Phantom of the Digiworld
by SummerGirl0009
Summary: When Kari lands the role of Christine in their high school's production of the Phantom of the Opera all the boys in school rush to audition, including T.K. and Davis. But who will steal her heart as Raoul? And who will seduce her as the Phantom?
1. The Best Day

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 1- The Best Day**

This had always been Kari's favorite part of her favorite movie. She clutched her pillow tighter as Raoul swept Christine around the rooftops of Paris' famous Opera House while the menacing phantom hid in the shadows. Raoul and Christine sang to each other about how much they loved one another and about how they would spend forever together.

Kari clutched her pillow and sighed as Raoul and Christine shared a perfect kiss.T.K. snorted at her dreamy expression and chucked a few kernels of popcorn in her direction. She retaliated by whacking him violently with her pillow. Of course T.K. did not let that be the end of it, taking her pillow in one hand and grabbing another throw pillow from the couch to attack her with both.

Kari giggled, too interested in the movie to return his pillow war. She took her pillow back and propped it against his side to curl up on the couch beside him.

As Raoul and Christine's romance blossomed, Kari couldn't help the slight feelings of awkwardness it brought about in T.K.'s presence. She'd seen this movie before with him, heck she'd seen countless more romantic movies with him, but the general uncomforting feeling was something new. She couldn't put her finger on why she was all of a sudden nervous around her best friend. Why she would give anything to know what he was thinking while he watched Raoul and Christine…

Oh, well, Kari thought, as she snuggled just a tiny bit closer to T.K.'s warm body.

When the movie ended Kari decided to ignore her disappointment when T.K. rose from the couch to return the empty bowl of popcorn to the kitchen. When he came back into the room Kari sat up and yawned.

"It's getting pretty late. I should probably get going," she told him. "After all, it is a school night tonight!"

T.K. groaned. It was their last night of their winter holiday break.

"Don't remind me," he muttered. "Want me to walk you home?"

"Sure," Kari said with a smile.

It had gotten late. It was dark out when they left his apartment building, and cold. The snow that had started falling that afternoon was quickly piling up on the frozen ground. Kari smiled when she saw a cute snowman some kids must have built earlier on.

"That looks like something we would've have built when we were younger," she told T.K.

T.K. laughed and agreed, remembering the many times they had spent playing in the snow. He walked away as if to inspect the children's creation.

"You know what else we would've done?" he asked her teasingly.

"What's that?" she asked while whipping a snowball at his face.

He ducked, and threw one right back at her, already having prepared it in his hand.

Kari screamed as it hit her arm and dove to the ground to make another. T.K. ducked behind the snowman, but Kari quickly caught him, smashing her snowball into his chest. T.K. screamed in reply, tossing small snowballs towards her.

She grabbed his arm and he twisted as he tried to escape. She would not let go, though, and ended up pulling both of them down to the ground, into the good six inches of snow blanket.

Kari landed almost on top of him as he smiled up at her, his blond hair covered in white snow. She felt another flicker of the awkwardness from before and quickly rolled off of him to lie on her back; the perfect position for snow angels.

They each made one side by side, before T.K. climbed up, and then reached for her hand to pull her up. When she looked down on their snow angels she smiled to see that because they had been lying so close together it almost looked as if the two angel imprints in the snow were holding hands.

T.K. turned her around to brush the snow off her back and she did the same for him, though the snow in his hair was already melting. Her hands were freezing from using them to make snowballs so she placed them in his and began to walk fast towards her apartment complex.

Once inside, Kari made the two of them steaming cups of hot chocolate to drink before T.K. had to brace the cold again to go home. T.K. settled onto the couch and absentmindedly began flipping through channels. Kari brought him his mug and sat down on the couch beside him, instinctively throwing her legs across his.

"I don't want to go back to school tomorrow," T.K. complained.

"Me either. Though it will be nice to see everyone all the time again."

"What do you mean?" T.K. asked. "We just saw Davis, Yolei, and Cody yesterday when we went to the digiworld."

"I know. But before that, I hadn't seen any of them for three days!"

T.K. laughed. "I guess it is a little weird. We spend so much time with them last summer and fall saving the digital world almost every other day. I'm so glad things are finally at peace there now."

"Me too," Kari agreed.

"And it's nice to have someplace warm to go to escape all this snow!"

"Yeah, yesterday was a lot of fun. My mom was so jealous when I told her we were going to the beach. I do like the snow though. It's so pretty and peaceful."

"Yeah, sometimes," T.K. replied. "I'd just much prefer a warm sunny beach to a cold icy winter."

Kari laughed and sipped her hot chocolate. There was nothing extremely interesting on television so they contented themselves with watching the snowflakes fall outside the window.

Around nine o'clock, however, Kari's mom decided that it was time for T.K. to head home before he got lost in the blizzard.

Kari walked with him to her front door and waited while he slipped on his shoes. That awkward feeling began making knots in her stomach when he stood up. Their eyes met for a brief second and Kari's breath caught in her lungs.

"Umm, I guess I should go now," T.K. stammered as he opened the door.

"Yeah, it's pretty late…" Kari replied. Their faces were just inches apart now.

"Okay. Bye!" T.K. said, giving her a little wave with his hand as he walked out and closed the door behind him.

Kari sighed and collapsed against the wall. She felt like laughing, crying, and screaming all at the same time. Just what was going on with her?


	2. The Announcement

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 2 – The Announcement**

Kari stared down at the cafeteria's lunch special for the day: Tuna Surprise. Holding back her revulsion, she scooped a small portion onto her plate, grabbed an apple and a chocolate chip cookie and headed over to her usual table with the other digi-destineds. Everyone she knew smiled and waved to her as she walked by, though an even larger portion of the student body just sat and stared at her. The staring used to make her uncomfortable but she had grown used to it by now. It was no secret that almost all of the boys in school had crushes on Kari, which made almost all of the girls in school want to be her friend. Therefore, even though she had no desire to be popular, she was.

She smiled hello to T.K. as she set her tray on the table next to him. He looked up at her as she sat down, making her heart ache once again. He opened his mouth to say something to her but was quickly cut off when Yolei dashed into the cafeteria, making a beeline for their table.

"Oh. My. God. You guys I can't take this!" She screamed throwing her bag on the ground, grabbing at her purple hair.

T.K. and Kari gave each other skeptical looks before asking her what was wrong. They were both used to Yolei's overdramatic tendencies.

"The spring musical is supposed to be announced today! But I just talked to Mrs. Fujita and she says she's not making the announcement until the end of the day! I can't wait that long! I think I'm going to explode!" Yolei made a muffled scream and sat down, clearly breathless.

"Sure you can wait that long, Yolei." T.K. promised her.

"Yeah, Yolei," Kari added. "It's lunch time so you're already halfway there."

Yolei made a face at them.

"Do you have any ideas of what it might be?" Kari asked.

"I don't know!" Yolei said. "But Mrs. Fujita was hinting last year that it was going to be something big. I think it might be an American one, like Chicago! Or Mamma Mia!"

"That'd be pretty cool," T.K. said. "If it's something interesting I've been thinking I might try out."

"Really???" Yolei screamed.

When T.K., nodded Kari couldn't help but give him a quizzical look. He didn't notice however, due to Yolei's gushing.

"That would be so amazing T.K. I just know you'll be wonderful. I've heard you sing before and we could really use your talent. And everyone knows your brother's band so I'm sure lots of people would come to see you sing. This. Could. Be. Huge. I have to go talk to Mrs. Fujita right away!"

Kari and T.K. laughed as Yolei ran from the table, forgetting her bag. They laughed even harder when she got halfway across the cafeteria and turned around to come back for it.

"Wow, I'm glad I made her day," T.K. said between peals of laughter.

"Geez, what was all that about?" asked Davis as he came up behind the pair to take Yolei's now empty seat.

"Just Yolei being Yolei," they assured him.

"Huh, whatever," Davis replied before turning his attention to Kari. "Hi Kari, I brought you a present."

His devious grin made Kari a little doubtful, so she was honestly surprised when he pulled a bright red rose out of his back pocket to give to her.

"Thank you Davis! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

They both looked to T.K. to see his reaction, but he just kept eating his lunch as if nothing had happened. Although this was slightly disappointing to Kari, she returned her attentions to Davis who was asking her truly thoughtful questions about how her break had been.

"Davis, you just saw her on Saturday," T.K. reminded him.

"Yeah, but that feels like forever ago. I hate going a day without seeing you Kari," Davis proclaimed and Kari and T.K. both rolled their eyes.

Thankfully, the bell signaling the end of their lunch period rang, saving Kari from Davis's considerate, yet somewhat annoying, interrogation. They disposed of their trays and followed the crowd exiting the cafeteria. This was not so easy a task for Davis, however, as he backed up to toss his tray into the waste bin from several feet away. Not only did his tuna surprise bounce out of the full waste bin, but it also just happen to land on the man standing on the other side of the bin. Unlucky for Davis, that man happened to be their school principal.

"Davis Motomiya!" the principal yelled, wiping tuna off his face.

Davis gave Kari a grin, "Catch you guys later!" and he took off sprinting down the hallway with the angry headmaster chasing after him.

T.K. and Kari laughed at Davis' misfortune and headed towards their lockers. Kari couldn't help but notice as both boys and girls stared at them down the hallway. Though it didn't bother Kari anymore, she still noticed, unlike T.K. who always seemed not to. Girls were always staring at T.K. He was the captain of the school's basketball team, but Kari knew that wasn't the only reason they stared.

"Ooo Kari, who's the flower from?" Yolei asked as she caught up with them.

"Davis, of course," Kari responded non-enthusiastically.

Yolei sighed. "That boy will never learn. I think it's about time you put him out of his misery." She gave Kari a wink, that did not escape T.K.'s notice.

"So, T.K., I just talked to Mrs. Fujita and she said she would be very excited to see you at auditions! She wouldn't tell me what the play is but she did say that she has a role she thinks you will be perfect for!"

"Yeah, I really think I'm going to try out. Now that basketball season is over and the digiworld is at peace, I have plenty of time," T.K. reasoned.

"Yeah, that's a really great idea!" Yolei agreed. "You know what I think? I think you should audition too Kari! Now that basketball season is over cheerleading's over too isn't it?"

Kari blushed. It was true. "I don't know Yolei. I'm not a very good singer. I probably wouldn't make it."

"Kari Kamiya that is the worst lie I have ever heard!" Yolei said.

T.K. laughed. "Sorry Kari, I have to agree with Yolei. Everyone knows you have a beautiful voice. Matt's been trying to get you to record a song with his band for ages now."

"What?" Yolei asked, surprised, "I didn't know that! Why didn't you ever tell me that Kari!"

"Come on, we're going to be late for class!" Kari said, attempting to change the topic.

"Don't try and change the topic, Kari!" said Yolei. "Haha, I know you too well for that trick!"

They entered the classroom and Kari took her assigned seat, thankfully on the opposite side of the room from Yolei. The rest of the afternoon dragged on, as only the second half of a school day can.

When the bell rang at the end of the day, Yolei practically bolted from her desk and was out the door in less than a second. T.K. and Kari followed at a much slower pace. When they heard Yolei shriek from down the hall they took it as a good sign.

Kari and T.K. worked their way through the already large crowd outside Mrs. Fujita's door to read the sign on the door. Even Kari was surprised when she read the sign on the door and the list of needed cast members below it.

In big bold leaders the plain white sheet of paper announced this year's spring musical as:

**Andrew Lloyd Webber's**

**The Phantom of the Opera**


	3. The Audition

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 3 – The Audition**

In what seemed like less than two minutes the entire school was buzzing about the Phantom of the Opera, who was trying out, and who should get which roles. People that usually had no interest in theater (like T.K. for example) were now super excited to audition.

Kari tried to ignore the hubbub as she got her things from her locker. When she slammed the door closed she was somewhat surprise to find T.K. waiting to walk home with her, like they sometimes did after school.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, pulling on his heavy winter coat.

"Yep. I wasn't expecting to walk with you today; I thought you'd be too busy with the musical business."

"Nah, auditions aren't until Wednesday so we've still got a few days to prepare."

"That's good, at least," Kari told him as they walked out the main entrance and down the school's front steps. "I'm sure you'll do wonderful at your audition, T.K."

"Thanks Kari. Isn't it crazy that we just watched that movie last night?"

"Yeah, talk about a coincidence. How come you never told me you were interested in theater?"

T.K. laughed. "You know, just seems like something fun to do. Especially if a bunch of our friends get involved too. You know, on my way over to your locker I even heard Davis bragging about how he's going to be The Phantom."

Kari laughed. "I didn't know Davis could sing. But I guess I could see him as a menace."

T.K. laughed with her and then added more seriously, "Have you given any more thought to trying out? I know the Phantom of the Opera is your favorite musical. I think it'd be a lot of fun if you did."

He gave her one of her favorite smiles of his. Kari groaned inwardly, she knew she didn't have a choice now.

"It would be a lot of fun," she decided. "I wonder if I'll get a part."

"Of course you will! I'm sure it will be a big one too," he told her.

"Which role do you want T.K.? Mrs. Fujita really likes you so I'm sure you'll be one of the leads. Would you want to be Raoul? Or compete with Davis for the Phantom?"

He laughed again, "Well the Phantom is a bigger part, but Raoul would be great too. I think I'll just let Mrs. Fujita decide and hope for the best."

Kari laughed, "Yeah I guess that's probably the best way to go."

When they reached their parting point, Kari happily waved goodbye to T.K. as she definitely had a lot to think about. Did she really want to audition for the spring musical? Yes, it was true that Kari had a great voice, but could she sing in front of her entire school?

An image of her dressed in Christine's beautiful ball gown flooded her head. The fantasy soon included an image of T.K. playing Raoul. If she got the role of Christine and T.K. was Raoul they would have to act as lovers. She would get her perfect kiss.

Kari smiled to herself.

And then she stopped. She knew she shouldn't get too far ahead of herself. She hadn't even looked at the audition material. The only time she'd ever sang music from her favorite musical was in the shower and Kari didn't personally think that qualified as practice.

The next few days were pretty crazy at school. Everyone was just so excited for the Phantom of the Opera, people couldn't stop talking about it. Everyone wanted to know who was trying out and for which part.

When Yolei found out Kari was auditioning she screamed and jumped up and down for five whole minutes. Davis, of course, had to inform Kari that Christine kisses the Phantom in the end. Yolei pointed out that Christine kisses both the Phantom and Raoul, which was not happy news for Davis.

By the time Wednesday came around, Kari found herself just as excited for the auditions as everyone else. It seemed the more she pictured T.K. leading her around the stage in front of the whole school the more determined she was to land the part of Christine. The day of the audition, Kari was so nervous she could barely concentrate on schoolwork. Luckily, she was not alone. It seemed like half of the students in the school were obsessing out over the try outs. T.K. was the exception, however. He seemed cool and aloof the entire day. Kari didn't know how he could be so controlled.

They sat together in the hallway after their last class, waiting for their turn to be called. Just being around him seemed to calm Kari's nerves and help her relax, at least until Mrs. Fujita called her name.

Kari's whole body seemed to tense, but T.K. seemed to sense this and squeezed her hand. "You'll be great Kari. Don't even worry about it."

She forced a smile at him in return and shakily entered their high school auditorium.

"Kari Kamiya?" Mrs. Fujita asked as Kari slowly walked up the stairs to the stage, reminding herself to stay calm and to keep breathing evenly. Kari nodded and forced another smile.

"And you're auditioning for the role of Christine Daaé?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," Kari replied, much steadier now.

"Okay great. The audition piece for Christine is 'Think of Me.'" She signaled one of the students assisting to hit play on the sound system.

As soon as the first few piano notes began, Kari felt like an instant tranquilizer had been injected into her veins. She took a deep breath and the song just flowed out of her.

When the song ended, Kari's nervousness took over again. The grin on Mrs. Fujita's face, however, was reassurance enough.

"That was beautiful," she told Kari. "Thank you for your time. That is all that we need for today. Call backs will made Friday." She gave Kari a discrete wink. "So I would suggest you ensure that you're phone is not off the hook Friday night."

Kari nodded thankfully and quickly exited the auditorium. Outside the doors her friends were waiting for her.

"How'd it go?" what seemed like a zillion people asked her.

Kari smiled. "Just great."

Yolei cheered and Davis scooped her off the floor in a huge bear hug. As soon as he let go, however, Kari raced to give T.K. a hug.

"Congratulations!" he whispered in her ear.

Kari let him go reluctantly because just at that moment, her digivice began beeping from somewhere deep in her pocket.

"Oh no!" Davis said, holding his own beeping digivice in his hand.

"There must be some kind of disturbance in the digiworld!" Yolei added.

"But T.K. and I can't go! The male auditions are going to start any minute!" Davis complained.

"That's ok, how about Yolei and I go check it out. There hasn't been anything too bad in the digital world for a long time, so it's probably not anything we can't handle by ourselves," Kari suggested.

"Yeah, and if we do need help we can always give Cody a call for backup," said Yolei.

T.K. and Davis exchanged nervous glances. The two boys rarely agreed on much but the idea of the girls going alone to face a possible threat was not something either of them liked.

"We'll be back before you know it!" Kari said smiling.

The two boys were still not happy, but they reluctantly agreed as Mrs. Fujita called Davis in for his audition.

"Ok. But be careful you two!" T.K. called as Kari and Yolei began racing down the hallway to the computer lab.

"We will!" Yolei shouted back.

"And good luck T.K.!" Kari wished him.


	4. The Attack

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 4 – The Attack**

Kari and Yolei landed in the digiworld just in time to find Gatomon and Hawkmon ready to go searching for the disturbance. If Kari's digivice had not told her otherwise, Kari would not have believed anything could be amiss in the digital paradise. The tropical forest was beautifully peaceful, with the occasional exception of the rustle of digimon playing among the ferns or the harmless flapping of wings flying overhead.

When Yolei asked their two partners if they had heard or seen anything suspicious both of the digimon looked bewildered. It seemed that they had just reached the area, in order to meet their human friends.

Yolei scratched her head. "I can't tell if the digivice was making a mistake or if this is some sort of evil trap because it looks like nothing's wrong!"

Kari shrugged. "Let's hope it's the first option. We should probably check around though, just in case."

"Should we split up?" Hawkmon asked.

"No," Kari decided. "If this is a trap we had better stay together." Yolei and Gatomon nodded their agreement and the four of them set off examining the surrounding area for any signs of a battle or trap.

The diligence of their search, however, decreased as day went on. After several hours of no results they were forced to forget their worries and enjoy the beautiful day instead.

"So Kari," Yolei asked, with a devious tone to her voice, "has Davis given you any more flowers?"

"No, you know how single-minded Davis can be. He's been focusing all week on the musical; he's determined to get the part of the Phantom so he'll get to kiss me."

Yolei rolled her eyes. "With all of the detentions Mrs. Fujita's given Davis over the years, it would take a miracle for her to forget how much she hates him and give him the lead in the play."

Kari laughed. "You never know. Davis has really been practicing."

Yolei snorted. "Are you ever going to go out with him, Kari?"

"How can you ask me that Yolei?" Kari said, suddenly serious. "You know that if I wanted to go out with Davis I would have done so years ago."

"You never know…" Yolei replied, "People change their minds. You know, like how sometimes when a boy and a girl who are just friends spend a lot of time together and then they realize that they really want to be more than friends…"

The devious tone was back in Yolei's voice.

"We're not talking about Davis any more, are we?" Kari asked.

Yolei smiled her most wicket smiles. "I don't know Kari, who are we talking about?"

"Yolei, T.K. and I are just friends."

"Uh huh," Yolei responded disbelievingly. "And is that all you want it to be?"

"Yes," Kari lied. "I mean, I think so. I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship."

Yolei rolled her eyes.

Kari sighed. "Yolei, he's my best friend. He's not interested in me like that."

"If you really believe that, Kari, then you're either blind or stupid."

"What do you mean?" asked Kari, a glimmer of hope burning through the knots in her stomach.

"I mean that you'd have to be blind not to see the way he looks at you. And there's the fact that girls throw themselves at him every day but he ignores them because he's always with you. You guys are always together, and don't even try to deny it. This is the first time in months we've spent any quality time together without him around."

Kari laughed, "That's because the digital world is at peace now; the only time we're together now is in school, where T.K. is in all our classes, or when we're hanging out with the rest of the group here in the digiworld."

"Maybe," Yolei said, "either way, I think that means that we need to spend more time together."

Kari smiled, "Yeah, I think we're a little behind on our girl time."

"At least we'll be seeing more of each other at the Phantom rehearsals," Yolei told her, which made them both smile as Kari agreed.

As the day drew to a close, Kari and Yolei returned home satisfied that there had been no trace of a disturbance in the digital world.

Kari's head was in a whirl, however, after all Yolei had told her about T.K. Could he really feel that way about her too? What was she supposed to do about it? She had never asked a guy out on a date before, they always asked her. What if she asked him and he really didn't feel that way about her? She would never know though unless she asked him, right?

Kari was so distracted by her confusion, when Mrs. Fujita called her Friday night to inform her of her audition call backs, which would be held the following Monday, Kari had almost forgotten all about the musical.

After she hung up with Mrs. Fujita, Kari was so excited she almost screamed into the phone as it rang again. When she heard T.K.'s voice on the other end asking for her, she did scream.

"T.K.! Did Mrs. Fujita call you yet?"

"Yep, a few minutes ago. Did she call you too?"

"Yes! I got a call back! For a second though I was afraid you were Mrs. Fujita calling back to say there had been a mistake."

They both laughed and Kari's excitement filled her to the brim as she and T.K. gossiped about who else must have gotten a call back. All that Kari could focus on, however, was the image of her and T.K. dancing onstage in front of their entire school. She was one step closer to her dream coming true.

They talked and laughed on the phone until it was so late, Tai, who was home from his dorm room at the university for the weekend, came out of his room to yell at her to keep it down.

"I'm sorry, T.K." she whispered to him. "We should probably get some sleep."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later. Good night, Kari!"

"Good night, T.K.," she told him as she reluctantly hung up the phone.

"Good night, Tai!" Kari yelled to him through the wall separating their rooms before settling down to sleep for the night.

She did not get to sleep for very long, however, before her digivice began to beep as it had earlier that week.

Drowsily, Kari wiped the sleep from her eyes and climbed out of bed. "This'd better be good," she grumbled.

Her digivice was still beeping as she looked down at it from her desk. Alarm spread through her as she recognized the alert from the same area she and Yolei had investigated on Wednesday. Rushing to her computer, Kari didn't even bother to change out of her nightgown as she lifted her digivice to the screen and demanded a portal to the digital world.

It was nighttime in the digiworld as well when Kari landed. Her landing was unusually soft, which surprised her. It wasn't until the softness below her groaned that Kari realized she had landed directly on top of someone, or something.

Kari leapt away from her landing cushion, her eyes unadjusted to the darkness around her. "Who's there?" she asked. "Gatomon, is that you?"

"Kari?" the thing asked her and she sighed a relief, recognizing the voice.

"T.K.? "

"Hi." Kari's eyes began to adjust and she blushed realizing that T.K. was wearing only his boxer shorts and a thin white T-shirt. Thankful that it was so dark T.K. would not notice her flush, Kari asked him if he had seen anyone else.

"No, but I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that they're all still aslee-" He was interrupted by a large crash behind them. The two whirled around just in time to see a huge ball of fire headed straight towards them.

T.K. grabbed Kari's arm and knocked her to the ground, practically jumping on top of her. He succeeded, however, as the fireball passed just over their backs and into the brush behind them.

"Boom bubble puff!"

"Lightning claw!"

T.K. pulled Kari to her feet as their digimon burst out of the trees attacking the enormous DarkTyrannomon standing not fifty feet away from the two humans.

"DarkTyrannomon!" Kari shouted, very confused.

"What's he doing here?" T.K. asked.

"It doesn't matter. We can take care of him!" Kari said, and T.K. nodded his agreement while they held up their digi-eggs to their digimon.

Once Patamon had digivolved to Pegasusmon and Gatomon had digivolved to Nefertimon it was surprisingly easy for the two digimon to defeat the evil digimon on their own.

"All right!" T.K. shouted when the battle was won and their digimon de-digivolved back to their usual forms.

In her excitement, Kari turned and embraced T.K. He hesitated for a moment and then returned her hug. She smiled as she lifted her head towards him but she froze, along with the entire world around her, when he leaned down and kissed her lips.


	5. The Call Back

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 5 – The Call Back**

Kari stood frozen in the aftermath of the battle, savoring the feel of T.K.'s lips on hers. It was all too soon that he pulled away, his face such a deep red Kari could see it through the darkness. There was an awkward silence as T.K. looked down at the ground, making Kari suddenly aware of just how thin her nightgown was.

Gatomon and Patamon burst into the clearing to ensure that they were alright.

"We're fine," Kari verified, her own blush spreading across her cheeks.

The two digimon exchanged questioning glances before reminding them that it was still very late at night and that the two humans should get home before their families worried about where they had gone.

"Yeah," T.K. said. "And we have to tell the others what happened. Maybe they'll have an idea as to why a DarkTyrannomon would be in this area." He was still avoiding her gaze.

Kari nodded her agreement as T.K. opened a portal to take them home.

Thankfully the digiport transported her to her own room or she would have had to walk home in her nightgown and wake up Tai to let her in. As she drifted off to sleep for the second time that night, she smiled as she dreamed about T.K.'s kiss.

When Kari awoke in the morning, however, the happiness his kiss had given her the night before was beginning to fade. Instead of joy and excitement, she was confused and nervous. She wasn't sure if it meant he wanted to be her boyfriend or was she supposed to ask him now to be her boyfriend? What if it hadn't meant anything to him? Was she supposed to pretend like it had never happened?

They met at Davis's apartment that Saturday so Kari and T.K. could tell the others what had happened to them in the digiworld. Kari was definitely more nervous around T.K. than usual, thanks to her frantic heartbeat around him, but other than that things were normal between them.

The rest of the digidestined team was shocked to hear about the night's events.

"You two took on a DarkTyrannomon by yourselves?" Davis asked them with his jaw hanging wide open.

"What are you trying to say, Davis?" T.K. asked jokingly.

Kari laughed, "Yeah, it's a good thing Gatomon wasn't here to hear you say that."

"You guys are alright though, right?" Yolei asked. "Gatomon and Patamon are ok?"

"Yep, we're fine," Kari told her. Yolei, on the other hand, gave her best friend a skeptical look in reply, possibly already sensing that something else had happened the previous night, something that did not have to do with evil digimon.

Before Yolei had the chance to ask another question, Ken finished connecting to an online chat with Izzy, who was away at college. Izzy had been monitoring the digital world for any more signs of interference since he had gotten the message T.K. left him after the attack. He informed them that there were no other traces of evil digimon anywhere in the digital world and concluded that the DarkTyrannomon must have been acting on his own accord.

Everyone agreed with Izzy, as it is very hard to not agree with the genius.

"That DarkTyrannomon must've just been a bad digi-egg," said Davis.

"Well I hope he didn't have any brothers," said Cody.

After much congratulations to Kari and T.K. for defeating such a powerful digimon on their own, their digi-destined meeting concluded and the team went their separate ways. When Kari waved goodbye to T.K. and the others, her heartbeat slowed to its normal pace and she resented the normality that had taken place between them.

By Monday, Kari was so anxious for something to happen with T.K., she almost forgot all about her call back. The school day was painfully long for Kari, as both T.K. and Yolei were so focused on their second audition that Kari didn't get a chance to talk to either of them about what else had happened Friday night.

She knew she should have been as stressed about the audition as everyone else around her, but by the end of the day, Kari relished the moment when her name was called to perform. When she was on stage she didn't have to worry about her own issues. She was Christine Daaé not Kari Kamiya. The confusion she felt about T.K., however, only worked in her favor, as the character of Christine is constantly confused as well, between her devotion to the Phantom, whom she believes is an angel of music, and her love for Raoul.

Judging by the look of awe on Mrs. Fujita's face when Kari completed the desired scene, as well as those of her classmates scattered throughout the auditorium, Kari thought her call back went rather well. She smiled and thanked Mrs. Fujita before exiting the stage. As she gathered her school bag to leave, however, a thought struck her, so she changed her mind and took a seat in the back row.

She didn't have to be patient for very long; two more people auditioned and then T.K. took the stage. He was wonderful. Kari closed her eyes as he sang All I Ask of You, Raoul and Christine's love song, pretending in her head that he was singing it to her.

When he was finished Mrs. Fujita clapped loudly, exclaiming, "Well done, well done, Takeru!"

He bowed and walked off stage, heading up the aisle straight towards where Kari was sitting.

Her heartbeat began to pick up in speed again.

He was almost next to her by the time he saw her in the dim lighting, but when he waved she grabbed her belongings and followed him out the door. Once they were out in the hallway with the doors closed behind them, Kari dropped her bag and threw her arms around T.K.

"You were so great, T.K.!"

"Uh, thanks, Kari," he said blushing.

Kari stepped away from him, saying, "Wouldn't it be fun if we get the parts of Christine and Raoul?"

She grabbed at the air to her sides, pretending she was holding up a heavy skirt, and twirled around the empty lobby, singing Christine's part of the duet T.K. had just been singing a moment ago.

T.K. laughed and grabbed her waist, swirling her around the room and picking up his part of the song. Kari was in heaven, especially when the song came to its end: the kiss. T.K. stepped away from her, looking down at the floor below him.

"Uhh," he stammered, but before he could say anything else Kari lost herself in the moment, took a step towards him, and pressed her lips to his.

He froze underneath her before raising his hands to her shoulders and gently pushing her away.

"Kari, I'm really sorry," he began, "I just don't think we should let anything come between our friendship…"

All of a sudden, a mixture of shock, disappointment, and humiliation (but mostly shock) hit Kari like a tidal wave. There was a moment of silence as Kari raced through possible courses of action in her mind. She could be mad at him, she could keep embarrassing herself, or she could choose option number three and agree with him.

Choosing the least favorable, but seemingly best choice, Kari replied, "Oh. Ok," staring at the ground to keep from looking at him. "I'm sorry too then," she lied. "I didn't mean to put you in an awkward position. I guess the other night we were just caught up in our emotions."

"Yeah…so…still friends?"

Kari forced a smile, "Of course, T.K.," but she picked up her bag in a hurry so she could walk away before he would see her tears.


	6. The Casting

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 6 – The Casting**

Kari rushed away from T.K. to keep him from seeing the tears welling up in her eyes. She could picture the shocked look on his face but she didn't bother to turn around. Urging her legs to move faster, Kari exited the auditorium's lobby and kept walking, not really sure where she was heading, just knowing she had to get as far away from T.K. as possible.

She heard footsteps behind her and panicked, thinking that T.K. might be trying to catch up to her. She quickly ducked into the first doorway that came up on her right.

Leaning against the cool brick wall, trying to steady her breathing and hold back the waterfall of tears, she jumped in surprise when the door swung open and Davis walked out, nearly crashing the door into her.

"Kari!" he exclaimed, before giving her a questioning look. "Why are you standing by the boy's bathroom?"

The only response she gave him was a shrug of her shoulders as she turned away. She knew if she said anything or let him see her face, he would know she'd been crying so she kept her head down silently.

He reached out for her arm as she stepped back into the hallway. Whoever had been behind her was gone now, Kari noticed, feeling some of the tension release from her body.

"Kari, are you ok?" Davis asked her gently.

This time she looked up at him, not bothering to hold back her tears in front of him.

"Kari! What happened? What's wrong?" He had his arms around her in less than a second.

"I don't want to talk about it," she told him, though not resisting his hug.

With his arms still around her, he led her into an empty classroom nearby, taking a seat on top of one of the empty tables.

Giving in to his embrace, she leaned her head against his shoulder and let her tears flow freely onto his chest.

"Will you at least tell me what it's about?" he asked, "Was it your audition?"

Kari moved her head against his body to signal "no."

"Is it family? Did something happen? Is someone hurt?"

Kari shook her head no again.

Davis's body stiffened. "Was it a guy?"

When Kari didn't reply no, he correctly interpreted her stillness as a yes.

Davis leapt up from the table, his fists clenched. "Who was it? I'll kill him! Don't worry, Kari, he won't get away with this!"

Kari couldn't help but laugh a little at the exaggeration of his fury, knowing him well enough to know that if she didn't stop him, he probably would try and kill whoever had made her cry. "No, Davis, I won't let you kill him. Besides, that would get you into way too much trouble," she added jokingly. Wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, she said. "It's nothing, really. I just had a stupid moment and did something dumb. I'm alright though, honestly."

Davis put his fists down but he still had an angry look in his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yep." She headed towards the door, "Sorry I freaked out on you."

"It's ok, Kari, it happens to everyone. You know that if you ever need anything, I'll be there for you, right?"

Kari smiled at him, "Thanks Davis, you're a really good friend."

Kari's hand was on the doorknob to leave when he said, "Hey, Kari, wait a second. I have my call back in a few minutes but if you don't mind staying do you maybe want to hang out tonight?"

"Sure, I can't stay out too late though because my mom's expecting me home for dinner."

"Ok, great!" Davis's huge smile made Kari smile a little as they headed back towards the auditorium.

Thankfully, T.K. had already left when Kari resumed her seat in the back of the theater.

While Kari watched some of the other boys auditioning, Kari let her mind wander, mostly thinking about the play, mostly thinking about anything other than what T.K. had said to her. Her fantasy of the two of them dancing on stage was a little broken now, and she knew thinking about it would make her cry again. She still hoped he would get the part, but somehow the kiss didn't seem as exciting now that she knew it would never mean anything.

Kari was pulled out of her daydreams when Davis took the stage. Kari's jaw literally hit the floor when he started singing "All I Ask of You." How did she not know that Davis's voice was so spectacular?

Kari was staring at him in a mixture of amazement and shock. He was breathtaking. It didn't sound anything like his normal speaking voice. She almost couldn't believe it was him until he missed a note. The sharpness of the wrong note seemed to bring her back to reality but did not hinder the magnificence of his performance.

He seemed to know what kind of reaction Kari was going through. When he sang the line, "Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime," he turned his head in Kari's direction and winked.

Kari wasn't exactly sure why, but his wink made her blush.

When his audition was over, Kari met him in the lobby.

"Wow Davis. I didn't know you had that in you!"

He laughed, "I guess there's a lot you don't know about me, Kari."

"I really didn't even think you were serious about trying out," she said. He didn't answer as he pulled his gloves on.

He grabbed Kari's hands and pulled her towards the door. "So what do you want to do?"

"Uhh…well what did you have in mind? I'm up for anything." As soon as they passed through the school's front doors the freezing temperature outside hit them.

"Ok, scratch that. I'm up for anything warm!" she added, shivering.

"I know just the place!" said Davis, pulling her down the sidewalk and into the blizzard.

He ended up taking her to a small secluded coffee shop. "I know you said you had to be home for dinner, but now we can warm up with hot chocolate!"

They took seats in two big cushy arm chairs near the back of the café. Davis glanced at her from over the rim of his coffee mug. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about earlier?"

Kari nodded, taking a sip from her own mug.

"It was T.K., wasn't it?"

Kari nodded again, making him scowl down into his mug.

"That scum bag! First thing tomorrow I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

"Davis don't!" Kari pleaded. "I think that would only make things worse."

When Davis didn't say anything, Kari added, "He's one of my best friends and I don't want anything to change that."

Davis snorted and Kari pretended she didn't hear.

He drained his mug in one large gulp, successfully burning the roof of his mouth and tongue, which made Kari laugh at the outburst that followed. When Kari had finished hers as well, Davis took her hand once again, insisting on walking her home.

The blizzard had let up slightly as they stepped back out onto the street. It was snowing serenely now, big heavy snowflakes that stuck to the four inches of snow already piled on the ground. They passed through the park on their way to Kari's apartment complex and Kari stared in wonder at the beauty of the snow blanketing the thin tree branches. It seemed that the park had not received many visitors that day, as the snow on the ground was still pure white and undisturbed. At least, it was until Davis threw himself into a snow bank, spreading his arms and legs out wide to make a snow angel.

"Come on Kari! Make one with me!" he said to her.

Kari just smiled, remembering the night she and T.K. had made holding hand snow angels.

"That's ok, Davis, I think I'd better be getting home now."

He pulled himself off the ground and groaned at the snow that was now melting through his blue jeans.

"You better get home too before you freeze to death!" she told him.

"Nope, I told you I'd walk you home first."

"Ok, then let's hurry before you get pneumonia!"

As soon as Kari walked through the door her mother handed her the telephone.

"Will you call Yolei?" her mother asked her in an exasperated tone. "She's had to have called here fifty times today. I told her you were probably out with T.K. but she still keeps calling."

Kari apologized to her mother for her friend, deciding she'd wait until after dinner to tell Yolei about everything that had happened.

She didn't have to wait that long though; Kari had just taken the last bite of her dinner when the phone rang.

Their discussion ended up lasting several hours as Kari found she had a lot to tell her friend. She told her about her and T.K.'s kiss in the digital world, their kiss that afternoon, and how he had reacted. Yolei's reaction was similar to Davis's, but with a lot more swear words.

"Maybe T.K.'s just scared," Yolei suggested after her anger had subsided.

"Scared of what?"

"You know, ruining your friendship if things didn't work out. I know he likes you, Kari! Maybe he's scared you don't feel the same way."

"Well, yeah, I know he likes me, he's my best friend," Kari told her. "But why would he be scared I didn't feel the same way? I kissed him today, not the other way around."

Yolei didn't know what to say to that. She was even more shocked to hear that Kari had spent the afternoon with Davis.

"Kari! What did you do that for? Now he's going to be all over you again! Remember the early days when we first started going to the digiworld? Remember how obsessed he was with you? Is that what you want to happen?"

She lectured Kari for several more minutes about how she was crazy to give Davis that kind of attention because he would naturally assume it meant he had a chance with her. Kari just nodded and "mhmm"ed during the lecture, thinking having Davis around would not be as bad as Yolei thought it would.

"I think you're wrong, Yolei," Kari told her. "Davis has really grown up since then."

Yolei laughed, and then she laughed again. "Davis! Grow up!" she managed to say between laughs.

"Yolei, I'm serious! He was really sweet today," she said, which only issued more laughter from Yolei.

"He's a good friend," Kari said, not sure why she felt such a need to defend him.

"Whatever you say, Kari. Just don't complain to me when he's sneaking onto your balcony in the middle of the night to watch you sleep."

The next day at school, Kari was surprised to find that things were not so awkward between her and T.K. Her heart still raced in his presence, and they still weren't speaking as much as usual, but it seemed as if Kari's embarrassment had not put too much of a strain on their friendship.

As usual, they were sitting beside each other at their usual lunch table in the cafeteria, both focusing intensely on their meatloaf surprise, when Yolei burst through the double doors and practically ran into their table.

"What's going on this time, Yolei?" Kari asked, indicating the girl's obvious excitement.

"I just talked to Mrs. Fujita! She's going to post the casting after school!" Her purple hair was flying in all directions as she waved her arms frantically.

"All right!" said T.K excitedly.

Kari felt a pinch of nervousness. Mrs. Fujita had not wasted anytime, call backs had only been the day before. After lunch, the whole school was talking about the casting. When the day finally ended and the list finally posted, there was a huge crowd gathered in front of it as soon as the last bell rang.

Kari assumed she had done very well at her audition, a suspicion that was confirmed when she approached the large group of people surrounding the casting list. When her classmates saw her approaching they parted for her, wishing her congratulations and patting her back. Despite all of this, she was still slightly surprised when she read her name next to Christine Daaé.

Before she could read any other names, Davis came up behind her and swept her into a huge bear hug, lifting her feet off the ground. He spun her around, forcing people to back out of their way in order to not get hit by Kari's flailing legs.

"Kari! We're the leads! This is cause for celebration!"

"You got the Phantom!" Kari said, more of a statement than a question.

"No, I'm got Raoul! I'm your lover," he said, winking at her.

The thought of Davis being Raoul had not occurred to her, and didn't seem to sink in for a few moments.

"Wait," she paused as he set her back onto her feet. The realization was taking a while to hit her. "If you're Raoul then who's the Phantom?"

They both turned their heads simultaneously toward the piece of paper posted on the door. Blocking their view of the list, however, was a familiar tall, blue eyed, blond haired boy.

T.K. raised his forearm in front of his face as he turned around to face them. He lowered his voice an octave to a creepily seductive baritone, "You're looking at him."


	7. The Surprise

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 7 – The Surprise**

Kari arrived early to their first play rehearsal, taking a seat in the front row of the auditorium to await her fellow cast members. She had barely touched the seat when Yolei stormed across the stage. Yolei, being the only one with opera experience, had landed the role of Carlotta, the famous opera diva.

"Kari! Glad you're here. The meeting doesn't start for another fifteen minutes, so when people start to arrive, just tell them to sit in the first few rows," she relayed from Mrs. Fujita no doubt.

She nodded that she would and leaned back in her chair to relax for the next fifteen minutes. Her week had been so confusing. Yolei had been right about Davis: he had followed her around all day just like a little lost puppy. He even ditched one of his classes to wait outside her classroom so he could walk her to her locker.

Davis wasn't really the problem, though. She could deal with Davis, afterall, she'd been tolerating his obsession with her since the day she'd met him. The problem was with T.K. They still hadn't really spoken since the incident at the call backs. Sure, there'd been some small talk, some congratulating after the casting, but no real conversation, no walks home after school, no hanging out at the others apartment. Kari was really worried. She was afraid that she was losing her best friend.

Other students began to arrive, some Kari knew, and some Kari didn't. One girl in particular, Kari was surprised to see would be ever be involved in the drama club. When she walked into the auditorium all of the boys turned their heads to look, probably involuntarily. Her name was Kim and Kari knew her from the cheerleading squad. She had fake orange blonde hair that Kari did not think matched her brown roots showing through at the top, or her dark skin that was unnaturally tan for this time of winter. Her attire did not seem appropriate for winter either. Perhaps she thought her fur lined winter snow boots compensated for the low-cut tank top and miniskirt.

Although Kari could wonder why a girl like Kim would want to be a part of a musical, she already knew the answer. She was here because of T.K. Or maybe Davis. Kari wasn't really sure since both boys were pretty popular at their school, being the basketball and soccer team captains.

Kim took a seat in the row directly behind Kari. Kim didn't even acknowledge her, at least she didn't until Davis and T.K. arrived and sat down on either side of Kari.

"Kari!" Kim said, tapping her shoulder. "I'm so excited for the musical. Congratulations on getting the lead!"

Kari smiled back as insincerely as Kim was. "Yeah, I'm glad we get to be in it together. Which part did you get?"

Both Davis and T.K. had turned around in their seats to see who was talking to Kari, and Kim winked at them before she said, "I'm playing Meg Giry." Kari faked a laugh. Meg whas Christine's closest friend, it meant that she and Kim would probably have to put aside their differences. But when she turned her attention to T.K., Kari quickly forgot that thought.

"Hi, you must be Takeru Takaishi! I'm Kim, it's really great to meet you! It's too bad Meg and the Phantom don't have any scenes together."

T.K. smiled back at her pouting face, but before he could say anything in reply Mrs. Fujita entered the stage with Yolei following on her heels carrying a tall stack of books.

"Welcome everyone!" Mrs. Fujita began, "Yolei will be passing out copies of the script, I don't expect everyone to have their lines memorized anytime soon, but now would be a good time to start learning them, if only to save cramming later."

Yolei clambered down the stage and handed everyone a book. Kari noticed a rustle backstage, but couldn't manage to see anything among the darkness of the wings.

"Now, before we get too far into this meeting," Mrs. Fujita continued, "I bet that some of you are wondering why the casting list I posted the other day is incomplete." She emphasized the last word. Kari frowned. She hadn't realized the list was incomplete, but after learning about her, T.K., Davis, and Yolei she hadn't felt the need to read about the rest of the roles.

Before Mrs. Fujita could say anymore the stage lights flickered off, sinking the entire auditorium into pitch blackness. Some people gasped and called out, but thankfully no one screamed. At least, they didn't until a deep throaty laugh erupted on stage. Davis gripped Kari's forearm.

All of a sudden, candles flickered to life along the edge of the stage, revealing a tall thin man dressed in black with a mask covering half of his face. He had his black cape drawn with one arm across the lower half of his face.

Kari couldn't make out his face through the mask, but his bright blue eyes sparkled with the candles' reflections in a way that seemed very familiar to her.

Then a voice shouted from the stage right, "Free her! Do what you like only free her! Have you no pity?" Kari almost laughed when she recognized the voice.

The man in black drew a sword from beneath his cape and raised it toward the voice. "Your lover makes a passionate plea." He had been looking at Kari when he said this.

Kari and T.K. exchanged glances, both smiling at their simultaneous realization.

"I love her!" The first voice rang out, "Does that mean nothing? I love her! Show some compassion!"

"The world showed no compassion to me!" The man in black growled. The first man stepped out of the wing, his face a shady blur in the dim lighting, his wild dark hair very distinguishable, however.

The two men began a violent sword fight on stage, but Kari could tell it was mostly play, making up the moves as they went along.

Then the lights were turned back on to reveal T.K. and Kari's older brothers, Matt and Tai, on stage, swords in hand.

"Ok, that's enough," Mrs. Fujita called out, stepping out from the wings.

Matt and Tai looked very disappointed that their fun had been cut short, but took bows before returning the stage to Mrs. Fujita.

"As I'm sure you all know," said Mrs. Fujita, "The Phantom of the Opera is a very big production. This is going to require much practice on your part, many props, and backstage effort, as well as a very committed orchestra and elaborate costumes. This is why we have decided to expand. This is no longer going to be simply a school production, but the effort of a community theater. And to help us, we have enlisted a few of our alumni who have either a background in the arts or are current students in the university's theater department."

Matt and Tai stepped forward. "You may already know Tai Kamiya, who will be playing Monsieur Andre and Yamato Ishida, who will pass his cape and mask along to his brother, and take the part of Monsieur Firmin." Kari smiled, Monsieurs Andre and Firmin were the owners of the opera house, roles which Matt and Tai could play wonderfully.

Matt removed the mask and cape and tossed them to T.K. while Kari could hear girls behind her giggling, no doubt excited to work with rockstar Matt Ishida.

Several more of Kari's older friends stepped onto the stage. "Sora Tachikawa will be playing Madame Giry, and Izzy Izumi will not only be assisting with lighting, but will also be playing Piangi."

Tai and several others lauged quietly, Piangi was supposed to be an overweight middle-aged actor.

"Of course, Izzy will need some stuffing," Mrs. Fujita added, the laughs not escaping her notice. "And Joe Kido will be helping us build our sets." Joe gave a nervous wave.

The meeting dragged on with Mrs. Fujita listing all of the things she expected from her cast members, how early they should arrive to rehearsals, and lists of things they needed to start working on right away, which included the final lair scene between the Phantom, Raoul, and Christine.

Kari sighed. It sounded like this musical was going to be a lot of work. She and T.K. and Davis were going to be spending a lot of time together in the next few months. That meant she had to talk to T.K. They had to get past this. She could live with not being his girlfriend, but she couldn't live without being his friend. She would talk to him right after the meeting.

She didn't get the chance, however. As soon as the meeting ended, T.K. climbed up to the stage to greet his older brother. Kari made to follow him, but was pushed back by the mass of girls climbing the stage to talk to Matt too. She fell back into her chair. Their talk was going to have to wait.

Just then, Davis grabbed her arm. "Come on, Kari, let's get out of here before they get violent," he suggested, glancing fearfully back at Matt's fangirls.

Kari nodded, and followed him out of the auditorium. She glanced back once at the exit to find she could barely see T.K.'s blond head above the horde of screaming girls. She almost felt sorry for him until she saw him smile. And then he laughed. She looked to where he was standing, now on the outside edge of the crowd, next to Kim. Kim reached up and placed her hand on his arm and Kari wanted to grab her fake blonde hair and throw her around like LadyDevimon had done to Angewomon.

But Davis was dragging her down the hall, so she followed obligingly, pushing her overly hostile thoughts from her head.

She almost crashed into Davis when she realized he was crouching on the floor.

"Davis what are you doing?" she asked. But he spun around on his knees, reaching up to give her a single red rose.

"Kari Kamiya, would you do me the honor of having dinner with me this Friday night?" he asked.

For a second Kari couldn't move, frozen in surprise. Then behind her she heard the shriek of teenage girls getting closer. Dinner with Davis? It seemed harmless enough. It's not like he was asking her to marry him, though if she said yes he might get the idea to do just that. Oh, what the hell, she thought, why not?

She took the rose from his hand. "I accept."


	8. The Rumor

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 8 – The Rumor**

It couldn't be true, it just couldn't be! T.K. was lost in his own world thinking to himself, unable to take his mind off the rumors that had been floating around school for the last few days. It's just not possible, he repeated over and over in his head. If Kari Kamiya, his best friend Kari Kamiya, was going on a date with Davis Motomiya, he would know. She would have told him. Davis would have told him. Yolei would have told him. Cody or Ken would have told him, assuming that they would even know as they went to other schools. Heck, even Tai would have told him!

"It just can't be true!" This time he accidently said it out loud, causing some people around him to give him funny looks, as he was sitting in the middle of his chemistry class. He, obviously, had not been paying attention. For the first half of the lecture all he had managed to do was memorize the back of Kari's head, while she sat at the desk in front of him, nodding along to the lesson.

She couldn't be going out with Davis. She didn't like Davis, at least not like that. She'd never liked him like that. Felt sorry for him, yes, was annoyed by him, yes, but she couldn't really like him. She couldn't really be attracted to him.

The girl sitting next to him was one of his classmates who had been startled by his outburst. Now, however, she just kept smiling and giggling as she continued to stare at him. What was her name again? T.K. knew her, she was playing Meg in the musical, but he couldn't remember her name, so just decided to think of her as "Meg" until he heard someone else say it. Whoever she was, T.K. wasn't sure if he should be annoyed because she hadn't taken her eyes off him, or if he should worry if she take her to the school nurse because her fake smile had started to wilt at its corners, making her look like she was in some kind of pain.

He had just talked to her the other day. Why couldn't he remember her name? They had been talking after the play rehearsal, right before one of his friends from the basketball team had told him the rumor about Kari and Davis. He couldn't remember any part of his conversation with "Meg."

Gosh darn it! Didn't Kari think he deserved to know something like this? They were best friends! At least they had been until he had gone and screwed it up…

Their teacher announced that they must pick partners now for the lab portion of the period, and T.K. realized "Meg" was going to try and be his partner. As soon as their teacher announced they could begin, T.K. practically jumped out of his chair and away from "Meg," hoping anyone in the world would be there to be his partner instead of her.

Thankfully, it was Yolei who managed to catch on to his act of desperation and asked him immediately to be his partner, to which he agreed, of course. Unfortunately, Kari who had turned around instinctively to ask T.K. was stuck with "Meg," but T.K. didn't feel sorry for her one bit.

What was he thinking? Of course he felt sorry for her. She clearly didn't get along well with "Meg." Just because Kari didn't want to confide in him anymore didn't mean they weren't still friends, did it?

Yolei grabbed his arm and marched him toward the lab bench they'd be using, giving him instructions as to how they would divide their procedure. After they'd gathered the materials they would need and began to set to work, he took advantage of the bustle around them to interrogate Yolei about the rumors.

"Is Kari going out with Davis?" he asked. He was going to attempt to be subtle, but decided on a direct approach instead.

Yolei made a disgusted face, indicating that she felt the same way he did about Kari and Davis as a couple. Then she rolled her eyes. "If they are, I haven't been told about it. She probably hasn't even heard the rumors, you know how she is."

He tried to control his irritation, but it was hard to do, especially when working with glassware. After breaking his second beaker Yolei stopped him and took over the rest of the work.

"You know, T.K., if you would just get over yourself and talk to Kari this probably wouldn't be happening."

He glared at her while pretending to be helping her. He should have known Kari would tell her what had happened between them. She glared right back at him.

"T.K., if these rumors are true then you have to talk to her! Maybe Kari sees something in Davis that we don't. She thinks he's changed!" She grabbed the front of T.K.'s shirt, practically lifting him off the ground. "You have to talk some sense into her!" She was almost yelling, attracting the attention of many students around them. Lucky for T.K., Kari and "Meg" were on the other side of the room so they hadn't heard Yolei's eruption.

T.K. blushed, his heart sinking. Yolei hadn't given him an answer to his first question, but she had done something else: she had acknowledged the possibility of the rumors being true.

"Yolei, what makes you think she'll listen to me? You're the one who's so upset by this, why don't you talk to her?"

Yolei released his shirt, sighing. "Don't pretend like you don't care about this! I know you better than that. Besides, it has to be you. You're the one who broke her heart."

T.K. gasped, broke her heart? That was the last thing he had meant to do. Is that what Kari told her or was Yolei exaggerating? What else had Kari told her?

Before he could ask anything more the bell rang, forcing all of the chemistry students to hustle towards the door, Yolei already moving far away from him in the crowd.

"Yolei! Come back here!" he shouted, but she was already hurrying down the hallway. It was the end of the school day and people were bustling everywhere to get out of the building.

He turned around to head back to his locker. As he turned, he recognized the back of Kari's head in front of him, also heading in his direction. Her head was tilted toward the ground, her shoulders slightly hunched forward. Even from behind T.K. could tell she was upset about something.

"Kari!" he couldn't help himself, if something was upsetting her he had to find out what it was and fix it.

She looked up as he caught up to her. "Hi T.K." she said not quite as cheerfully as usual. Her eyes looked a little red, almost as if she was holding back tears.

He almost asked her what was wrong, but was suddenly struck by the thought that maybe her distress had something to do with him. He decided then that maybe the busy hallway was not a place to discuss such matters. If she was still mad at him then they should probably go somewhere more private.

"Wanna walk home together today?" he asked her.

She smiled a little, "Sure, I just have to get my things."

He filled his school bag with books and met her at her locker, following the familiar typical routine he had followed before he had turned into such a jerk.

She looked a little better as he caught up to her and lead the way through the crowd and out the door. Once they had dispersed from the mass of students leaving, however, an awkward silence befell them.

"So…uhh…how about this weather?" he asked nervously. The snow was finally beginning to melt, which had turned the precipitation into an icy rain that made everything damp in the daytime and froze at night making the roads extremely hazardous.

Kari shrugged. "It's one step towards springtime, I guess."

"Yeah," T.K. agreed, "we're so lucky to have the digital world to escape to when it gets too cold here."

Kari nodded her agreement.

T.K. stopped, the rain splattering on top of his umbrella. "Kari, I have to ask: are you going on a date with Davis?"

She looked up at him and he almost detected a hint of sadness in her eyes. It was gone in a second as she smiled for the second time. "Yes. I guess I should've known Davis would tell the whole school."

T.K. felt as though all of the air in his lungs had evaporated. He looked down at the ground so Kari wouldn't see how hurt he was.

"Kari, look, I can't take this, you know, us not talking. I miss you," he confessed.

"I miss you too, T.K."

"It doesn't matter what's happening between you and Davis, I just want my best friend back. I can't bare you not talking to me."

The sadness was back in her eyes. "I want my best friend back too. So we agree not to let anything else come between us?"

"Mhmm." T.K. agreed, then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, which was somewhat awkward while holding an umbrella, but they managed.

When Kari placed her head on his shoulder his heart did a flip. Then he heard her sigh as she leaned closer to him. Reluctantly, T.K. ended the embrace, and walked with his free arm around her shoulder until they reached their parting point. She hugged him once more before heading toward her apartment.

Walking home, T.K. cursed himself over and over again. He was so stupid. He should've known better. What was he thinking when he said he just wanted to be her friend? That she would wait forever? That even after he rejected her she would never date anyone else? Of course someone else was going to ask her out, she's beautiful, and smart, and funny, and kind, and selfless, and perfect. Did it have to be Davis, though? What he would give to punch Davis in the face right then. Ugh! Why had he told her he was ok with her dating Davis?

Because you didn't want to hurt her again, his conscience told him. Because you want her to be happy, even if it means she has to be with Davis.

Stupid conscience. She's supposed to be with me! His thoughts would not give him rest. You let her go, his conscience repeated, now you have to live with it. Live with it! How was he supposed to live with her dating Davis? What if they kissed in front of him? He would lose it! He would kill Davis! Why did everything have to be so messy and complicated?

This is all his fault.


	9. The Date

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 9 – The Date**

"Kari? Is that you?" Mrs. Kamiya asked as her daughter walked through the front door of the Kamiya's apartment.

"Yeah, mom, I'm home!" Kari called while pulling off her shoes.

"Can you come in here for a sec? I want to talk to you."

Kari walked into the kitchen, "Sure, mom. Is everything alright?"

Kari's mother was sitting at the kitchen table, cutting out coupons from the weekly newspaper. "Oh, yes, I'm just worried about you."

"What do you mean?" Kari asked, "The digital world is at peace now, so we don't really fight at all anymore."

"Oh no, dear, it's not that. I know you have your digimon friends to protect you when you go there."

"Then what is it?" Kari didn't have a clue what was going on.

"I'm worried about your high school experience. I can't help it," her mother tried to explain. "When I was your age I had a different boyfriend every other week. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you and T.K. are such good friends, but you do spend an awful lot of time with him. I just think that you're so young, you should be dating lots of boys, not just one. If you don't see what else is out there you'll never know what you want."

Kari laughed at first, and then looked down at her mother's grocery ads when she realized she was being serious. "First of all, mom, I appreciate your concern, though I promise you, you don't have any reason to be worried. Secondly, T.K. and I are not dating, we're just best friends." Kari grimaced involuntarily as she was struck once more by the truth in her own words.

Kari's mother nodded and smiled at her. "I just want you to be happy, dear. These are supposed to be some of the best years of your life, I wouldn't want you to look back and regret it one day."

"I know, mom," Kari assured her. "Speaking of dates, I'm going on a date tonight. You remember Davis Motomiya, right?"

"Davis?" her mom asked, "You mean your obnoxious friend who used to always follow Tai around?"

Kari laughed, "That's the one."

"Oh," was all her mother had to say. "Well maybe I was overreacting a little bit. I'm sure you'll have a great time on your date."

Kari stood up from the table, but as she walked away she heard her mother mumble, "Hmm, I almost wish she was dating T.K. now."

When she got to her room, she threw herself onto her bed releasing the tears she had been holding back the whole day at school. She knew her mother meant well, but it still felt like rubbing salt in her fresh, still bloody wounds. Willing herself to crawl out of her bed and face reality, she convinced herself to breathe slowly and straightened her blankets. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she stood in front of her mirror, gazing at her reflection.

Now wasn't the time to be upset about things she couldn't change. T.K. didn't want to be with her so she would have to accept that and move on. Right now she had to think about Davis, as weird as that sounded. He would be here to pick her up in a few hours.

It's just dinner, she kept telling herself as she changed into her long-sleeved pink cotton dress. She switched on her curling iron, still telling herself to breathe. She had to pull herself together, it was the least she could do for him.

As she finished curling her hair and touching up her makeup, she was pleased to find that she didn't feel nervous at all. The more she thought about it, though, she realized she didn't feel any anticipation, she didn't really feel anything.

Davis was very polite when he arrived at her front door, bearing red roses for Kari and tulips for her mother. He helped her put on her jacket and linked arms with her as they walked out of the building.

She was very surprised when he led her to a small four-door car. Kari didn't know much about cars, but she could tell that this one was in very poor condition: the paint was chipping away around the rust, the windshield had a large crack in it, and the bumper was drooping on one side. Still, she was very impressed that Davis even had a car; it was something else she hadn't known about her friend.

Davis opened the door for her, very gentlemanlike, though Kari had to move a very large stack of papers before she could sit in the passenger seat. As Kari glanced at them she realized they were pictures of Matt, newspaper clippings about his band, and one of his C.D. covers. She also found pictures of his apartment building, pictures of him walking down the street, pictures of him in the hallway at school, pictures of him talking to groups of people, and even pictures of him eating. She could tell that they were all taken from afar as he didn't seem aware of the camera in any of them.

"This is Jun's car," Davis explained to her apologetically as he got behind the wheel.

"I didn't know you had a license, Davis."

"Yeah, I learned how to drive last summer," he told her. She figured that explained all of the damage to the car. Kari had had enough experience driving with Tai to know that it was better to be just sit quietly while he flew through stop signs and swerved around cars on the freeway. For a moment Kari almost thought she was driving with Tai until they parked at a very, very fancy restaurant.

"This is where we're eating?" Kari asked.

"Yep. Of course, I'm taking you to the best restaurant in town, Kari. You deserve the best."

Kari felt a little unsure, and a little underdressed as he opened the car door for her and escorted her inside. The waiters were all clad in black tuxedos and clearly had more important people to serve, but Davis had made reservations so they led them to a small table in the back of the restaurant near the door to the kitchen.

Davis opened up his menu and told her to order whatever she liked.

Kari wasn't so sure; everything on the menu was very expensive. Even the salads were overpriced. "Davis, are you sure about this?" she asked. "We can go somewhere else."

"No! We're eating here! It's the best!"

Kari was a little frightened by his outburst so she didn't say anymore as she scanned the menu for something she liked that wouldn't cost him an arm and a leg.

When they placed their order, Davis reached across the table to grab her hand. Unfortunately, the waiter had decided to refill their water glasses and reached down at the same time he did, knocking their full glasses to the tile floor. The crystal glasses shattered, splattering water all over the table, the waiter, and Kari.

"Oops, my bad," said Davis. The waiter gritted his teeth while he explained that he would fetch a broom to sweep up the glass and headed back into the kitchen. He did not look pleased.

Kari used her napkin to soak up the water that was dripping down her legs and soaking her socks.

"Here Kari, let me help," said Davis as he stood up to help her.

A waiter rushed through the kitchen doors, carrying a tray full of steaming dishes so big he couldn't see the water on the floor or Davis bending down to fetch Kari's napkin.

"No, Davis, look out!" was all Kari managed to say before the waiter slipped in the spilled water, tripped over Davis' body, and sent the tray flying forward. The food arched across the dining room before landing with a splat a few feet in front of them, the porcelain dishes demolished.

Davis and Kari stared at the wreckage for a second, not sure what to do before they heard the angry voices in the kitchen.

"Come on, Kari, let's get out of here!" he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet and out of the restaurant. Behind them she could hear the manager yelling at them to come back and pay for the damage they had caused.

"Davis, maybe we should have stayed and helped clean up," she said when they had reached the car and finally stopped running.

"Nah, it was all their fault. Those waiters should have been more careful!" Kari disagreed but she didn't say so.

"Now, on to part two of the evening!" he said, very excitedly. Kari's stomach growled, but Davis promised there would be food involved in "part two."

"Part two" turned out to be the city's old drive-in movie theater, where they were playing, believe it or not, the American 1943 movie Phantom of the Opera.

"Davis! This is great!" Kari told him. "I haven't been here since I was a kid!"

Davis smiled, "I'm glad you like it, Kari. I'll go get us some popcorn before the movie starts."

After Kari managed to calm down from their sprint away from the restaurant, she was surprised to find she was actually enjoying herself. Well, she liked the movie, at least, and Davis's company wasn't too bad either.

She changed her mind, however, when he tried to feel her up. He pulled the classic, yawn and stretch, and then put his arm around her shoulder, which she tolerated, until he tried to grab lower.

"Davis! What are you doing!"

He didn't answer, just threw himself at her, crushing her mouth with hers.

"Davis!" It was hard for her to speak when he kept trying to kiss her. "Stop it! Stop it!" It wasn't until she shoved him away from her so hard that his head smacked against the driver side window that he caught on.

"I'm sorry, Kari," he said, looking hurt. Kari knew he hadn't been trying to upset her, but his apology didn't help to soothe her anger. "I thought you were having a good time. I thought you wanted me to kiss you."

"I was. I'm sorry, Davis, but that's a little too fast for me."

Davis stared down at the steering wheel. He was quiet for an unusually long time before he said, "I know why you don't want to kiss me."

"Huh?"

"I saw you hugging T.K. today after school!" he practically shouted at her.

"What? You were following us? That's crazy Davis!"

"It's a good thing I did! Don't lie to me, Kari, I know you still have feelings for him. And I was right too! I bet you would've let _him_ kiss you!"

"Davis, take me home right now."

He started the car and pulled out of the drive-in's parking lot. They drove in silence back to her apartment. He didn't even try to apologize again until he pulled up in front of the entrance to her apartment building.

"I'm really sorry, Kari. I didn't mean to get so angry."

Kari could tell he was being sincere. "It's ok, Davis. I really did like the movie."

"So…does this mean you want to go on a second date next weekend?" he said hopefully.

"Not a chance," she said, making him pout. "I'm sorry Davis, but I really do think we're better off as just friends. Are you going to be ok with that?"

He sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Even on my scale, tonight was a disaster."

Kari laughed, then gave him a friendly goodnight hug before heading inside.


	10. The Seduction

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 10 – The Seduction**

Over the next few weeks Kari fell into the cyclic routine of after school rehearsals, private voice lessons, set construction, line memorizing, with some short breaks for eating, sleeping, and schoolwork thrown in here and there. Davis had not given up, like she had hoped he would, in wanting to take her on a second date, his ego continuously fanned by the rumors circling around school that he and Kari were a couple. In other news, although T.K. and Kari had agreed to not let anything come between them, the reconstruction of their friendship was put on hold due to the play. They were still spending time together, though the only thing they did together now was sing or read lines to each other.

Despite all of the hard work, Kari was thoroughly enjoying herself. Being a part of the musical filled all of the empty spaces in her life caused by the saving of the digital world from Malomyotismon. With the digital world at peace, Kari could now look back and see that her life had been rather boring since the fighting had stopped. The stress of the Phantom production was probably equivalent to the stress of saving the digital world, if not greater.

Although Kari enjoyed most days she spent working on the musical, some days she did not.

"Again from the top!" Mrs. Fujita called, issuing a sigh from the entire cast present onstage. They had been at this for over an hour now.

Kari took her place. They were working on The Phantom's opera, _Don Juan Triumphant_, which is a scene near the end up the musical. Because it is such an important scene, Kari could understand why Mrs. Fujita was making them practice it over and over again. Don Juan's seduction of Aminita was equivalent to the Phantom's seduction of Christine, a huge supporting scene leading up the to the story's climax.

T.K. began singing the song, "The Point of No Return:" "You have come here, in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish which 'til now has been silent, silent."

Kari sighed again as Mrs. Fujita stopped him. Every time she had something new to point out that they were doing wrong. She made him start again.

A shiver ran down Kari's spine. This scene made her very uncomfortable. The way T.K. would look at her made her shudder. When it came time for her to begin singing her part she couldn't help the permanent blush that seemed to be fixed on her face every time they practiced this scene.

"You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence." She knew she should be more confident, but it seemed impossible at the moment. "The Point of No Return" was a song not very subtly written about sex and seduction, things which embarrassed Kari to sing about in front of her fellow classmates. Of course, Tai's presence backstage probably wasn't helping either.

"Stop, stop stop," Mrs. Fujita called. "It's almost five o'clock. Everybody come over here!"

The cast and crew members quit what they were doing and made their way to the front of the stage.

"Thank you all for working very hard this week," she told them. "As a reward for your hard work, I am cancelling tomorrow's rehearsal." There were cheers all around as they packed up their belongings for the day. "However," she Mrs. Fujita said when she had pulled T.K. and Kari aside, "I would suggest that you two use the extra time wisely and practice. It doesn't matter if you two even like each other, when you are on stage playing the part, you need to find your passion, something which I cannot teach you."

Kari blushed again before she nodded to Mrs. Fujita and followed her friends offstage. It didn't take T.K. very long to catch up with her.

"Hey Kari, wait up!" he called out, as he ran to where she was waiting for him. "Do you want to come over to my house after school tomorrow? We can practice 'The Point of No Return.'"

"Sure, T.K., though it might take us a long time. Is your mom ok with it?"

"Yeah, I'll ask her just to make sure, but I think she has to work late tomorrow."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, T.K.," Kari said as they reached their typical parting point of their walk home. He waved goodbye as Davis ran up to her.

"Kari, do you want to hang out after school tomorrow since we don't have rehearsal?" he asked eagerly.

"Sorry, Davis, but T.K. and I will probably be practicing all day." He looked disappointed, but it couldn't be helped.

"How about I come too and practice with you guys! We can work on the lair scene," he suggested.

"Maybe next week," she said, trying to let him down gently. "I think Mrs. Fujita really wants us to focus on 'The Point of No Return' right now."

It took a while before Kari could finally convince him that his presence at T.K.'s would not be necessary. If anything, Davis being there while they practiced would probably make her more uncomfortable with the scene, if it was even possible for her to be any more uncomfortable than she already was.

The next day when they arrived at T.K.'s apartment, Kari was nervous. Being alone with T.K. in his apartment, singing a song about sex was just a very awkward situation for her. Sex wasn't a topic she was very comfortable with. Heck, until a few weeks ago she had never even kissed a boy, let alone even considered having sex. She smiled involuntarily to herself as she remembered her first kiss: the time when T.K. had kissed her in the digital world. No matter how many times she tried to tell herself that he was just her friend, the feelings she had for him fought against her to resurface.

After they took their shoes off by the door, she was a little confused when he headed down the hallway instead of to the living room, where they usually hung out.

"I thought we could use the stereo in my room," he told her as he pulled open the door for her.

Kari's heart was pounding. It's no big deal, she told herself. She'd been in his bedroom plenty of times before.

She set her school bag on the floor and took a seat on his bed as he dug the orchestra's recording from his backpack and inserted it into the stereo.

"Do you want anything to eat? We don't have to start right away if you don't want to," he said.

"No," Kari decided. "This could take a long time, we should probably get to work."

The music began and Kari's heart thumped against her rib cage. T.K. began his part, moving toward her, meeting her eyes. He reached out a hand and pulled her to her feet. It wasn't just the music they had to practice but the choreography as well.

She looked into his eyes as her part arrived and strangely enough, she suddenly wasn't so nervous. The blue of his eyes reminded her of the ocean, not the dark ocean, but a peaceful calming ocean. It had an amazing effect on her and the words of the song flowed out of her without any hesitation or embarrassment.

The song picked up again and he pulled her closer, their bodies brushing each other, their faces just inches apart. Then he pushed her away and they simulated moving across the stage, first away from each other, and then back toward the center of the room. When they met again, he turned her around as he pulled her in so her back was flat against his chest, his arms wrapped around her.

He voice added to hers, though she didn't know how since his mouth was lingering on her neck, his breath warming her skin. Her blood was pumping in her veins, surging throughout her body. His hands were caressing her sides and when one hand slid upward to cup her breast she instinctively arched her back beneath him, further pressing her backside into his crotch. Then his other hand slipped in between her legs and she realized that neither of them was singing anymore. Though the music was still playing in the background, the lyrics and choreography were long forgotten. He had to stop singing in order to kiss her neck, her shoulder, his mouth sucking, teasing her skin. She let out a small moan as he caressed her through her clothes.

All of a sudden, the music struck its famous chord, the part where Christine rips off the Phantom's mask, exposing his deformities to the opera house audience. The volume and unexpectedness startled Kari, breaking their trance and ruining the moment. Kari froze in his embrace and he released her at once, stepping away from her. Kari turned around to face him, already knowing that he would be blushing as scarlet as she was. He laughed nervously, placing one arm behind his head.

Kari laughed too. "I wonder what Mrs. Fujita would say about that, there was definitely passion. I think we're finally getting somewhere."

T.K. looked back into her eyes. "Kari, I wasn't acting." He stepped forward and took her hands in his.

"Oh," was all Kari managed to say. Her head was spinning, or maybe it was the room spinning around her. She sat down on the edge of the bed to steady herself so T.K. sat down beside her, rubbing small circles on her back.

"Are you ok, Kari?" he asked, very concerned. "I'm really sorry…I didn't mean to get so…carried away…"

She looked up into his eyes, using that ocean blue to calm herself again. "Don't apologize, T.K." Kari couldn't say anymore because she was blushing again.

T.K. seemed to already know what she meant to say because he said, "I do have to apologize. I have to apologize for what I told you that day at the call backs. I lied to you, Kari. I wasn't sure exactly what I was feeling and I was scared that you were going to hate me and that we would never be friends again. I'm sorry I lied to you, and I swear I've never lied to you about anything else. And I swear I'm not lying when I tell you that I've wanted to be more than your friend for a long time now."

Kari smiled up at him and placed one of her slim hands on his cheek. He took the palm of her hand and kissed it, trailing kisses on each of her fingers and down to her wrist. She pulled her hand away from his face and placed it behind his head, tugging gently on his hair to pull his face to hers so she could kiss his lips.

This kiss wasn't like the ones they had shared before in those brief moments of celebration. This kiss was passionate, and tender, and everything Kari had ever dreamed kissing him would be like.

They were both so happy that they stayed like that for quite a while. Lying next to him on his bed, it was almost getting dark outside when T.K. became suddenly very serious.

"Kari, what are you going to tell Davis?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked.

"Isn't he your boyfriend?"

"What!?" Kari exclaimed, "Did he tell you that?"

"No," T.K. said, defending his friend, "It's what everyone at school thinks. I think it was Kim who told me, but I'm sure there were others."

"That figures," Kari said, rolling her eyes at the mention of Kim's name. "No, Davis is not my boyfriend. We went on one very horrible date and decided, well I decided at least, that we should just be friends."

"Oh," said T.K. "So you're single?"

Kari laughed. "Yes."

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Kari smiled. "I would love that T.K."

He kissed her again, when a thought occurred to her.

"Wait, T.K., maybe this isn't a good idea."

He looked horrified, "Why?"

"Not us being boyfriend and girlfriend," she exclaimed, leaning up to kiss him in reassurance, "I mean us being publicly boyfriend and girlfriend. I don't want people to think I cheated on Davis."

"Why not?"

"Because I would never cheat on anyone! Davis probably won't like this either."

"So?" T.K. grumbled. "Why does it matter what Davis or anyone else thinks?"

"Because Davis is still my friend and I don't want to hurt him. Maybe we should just keep this between us for a while, how about until after the performance? That way, if he does get upset he won't have to see us every day."

T.K. sighed. "Alright, I guess you do have a point. I know what Davis is going to go through and believe me, it is not fun, especially at rehearsals."

Kari frowned, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"Don't be sorry. It was my fault. Besides, we can make up for all that now." He kissed her again as she smiled up at him.


	11. The Camping Trip

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 11 – The Camping Trip**

Kari thought she knew what Christine must've felt like when she had to keep her engagement to Raoul a secret in order to protect him from the Phantom's wrath. It wasn't easy to keep something like that a secret, as Kari was quickly finding out. Every time she and Yolei would gossip about who was dating who, Kari wanted to tell her "Oh and guess what, T.K. and I are official now." Every time someone would ask her if Davis was her boyfriend she wanted to say, "No, Davis isn't my boyfriend, T.K. is." Every time Kim would send a flirty look T.K.'s way, Kari wanted to wrap her arms around him protectively. And every time Tai made kissy faces behind her and T.K.'s back she just wanted to lean in and kiss him right there in front of Tai.

She sighed. She didn't have long to wait now, it was only a few more weeks until opening night. She knew she should be more worried about the performance being so soon, but all she could think about, all anyone could think about, was their weeklong spring break that was coming up. Mrs. Fujita had attempted to schedule rehearsals during the week of the break, but with so many people going on vacation, she had given up and just ordered them to practice so they didn't fall apart when they returned.

Kari was very excited for spring break. The entire digi-destined team was going on a camping trip to the digital world. Mimi was coming in from America, especially for the trip, and even Joe was taking a break from medical school to join them.

They all agreed to meet in the digital world Friday night, after their last Phantom rehearsal for the week. They choose to camp on the beach of File Island, a monumental site for the original digi-destineds, as it was where they had spent their first night in the digital world. True, they had also been attacked by Seadramon there, but now the digital world was at peace and the dangers of File Island long gone.

Yolei had borrowed three very large camping tents from her uncle, so the accommodations would be much improved since the last time the digi-destineds had camped in the digital world without any shelter or supplies. It took them the better part of their first hour there to figure out how to set the tents up, as the digimon collected firewood materials from the forest around them.

Kari, Yolei, Mimi, and Sora were the first to set up their tent, then sat back and enjoyed the show as Tai and Davis barked out orders enhancing the air of frustration surrounding the boys. They had decided that the younger boys, T.K., Davis, Ken, and Cody, would share a tent, and the older boys, Tai, Matt, Izzy, and Joe, would share the other.

"I have an idea," Sora said. "How about you guys race to the finish?"

"On your mark, get set, go!" Kari called out.

Matt grabbed the instruction manual and began reading the directions out loud to his team. Once Joe stopped tripping over the poles, they had the tent up in seconds.

It took the younger guys a few more minutes, which did not please Davis.

"Relax, Davis," Cody told him. "All that matters is that the tent is up, so now we have someplace to sleep."

"Well, if you guys had moved faster, we would've won!" Davis cried.

"Maybe it would have been faster if you had helped instead of yelling at us," T.K. pointed out. The others laughed as Davis continued to insist that Matt had cheated by using the instruction manual.

Once the digimon had gathered enough materials for a fire, Agumon ignited a blaze with an effortless "Pepper Breath." Once Yolei pulled out hot dogs and materials for s'mores, the digi-destineds enjoyed a calm night underneath the digital stars, reminiscing about the old days.

Unfortunately, the tents weren't big enough to hold both the humans and digimon, but the digimon reassured them that they would be comfortable sleeping out in the open around the campfire.

"Besides," Gabumon pointed out, "we'll be better able to protect you guys from an attack if we're already out here." The other digimon agreed with him.

"You guys worry too much," Tai said, and all of the digi-destineds hoped he was right in thinking there wouldn't be any trouble.

Still energized by the sugar of the s'mores, the girls were up giggling and gossiping in their tent long after they had all decided they should hit the hay.

"So, Kari," Mimi said to her, "Are you and T.K. dating yet?"

"You and T.K.?" Sora asked. "I heard you were dating Davis!"

"No way!" Kari assured them. "Davis and I are most definitely not a couple." She was careful to avoid answering Mimi's question.

"Oh, I just can't picture you with Davis," Mimi said. "He's so much like Tai."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked. Sora had never officially dated Tai, but they had liked each other all through middle school. In fact, Sora still considered Tai to have been her first boyfriend, even now that she and Matt had been happily in a relationship for almost two years. Thankfully, Tai was perfectly fine with the situation, which gave Kari some hope that Davis would be alright when he found out about her and T.K.

"Nothing, Sora, it's perfectly fine if you like dirty soccer players," Mimi said.

Sora whacked her with her pillow. "You all know exactly what kind of boys I like."

"Yeah: tall, skinny, and blond," Yolei said.

"Uh oh, we better tell T.K. to watch out," Mimi said jokingly.

"Well we know what kind of boys you like, Mimi," Sora said teasingly.

"What?" Yolei and Kari both asked. Mimi had always been a flirt, and very popular with boys, but as far as they knew, she had never actually dated anyone.

"Does Joe still send you love letters?" Sora asked her.

"You and Joe?" Yolei exclaimed, a little too loudly.

"Shh, Yolei, they can probably still hear us, their tents aren't that far away," Sora said, referring to the boys.

Mimi blushed. "Joe and I have always been good friends, ever since our first trip to the digital world. I guess you could say we were kind of the outsiders of the group back then. I mean, Tai and Matt had Kari and T.K., and Izzy was always in his own computer world, even when I would try to talk to him, he would just ignore me, or nod his head pretending like he was listening, even though I always knew he wasn't. And Sora, you were always kind of a loner.

"We were still good friends," she added when Sora frowned. "But for some reason, I always felt that I could relate more to Joe. Maybe because we were both open about how scared we were of everything then."

"And you were both complainers," Sora interjected teasingly.

Mimi ignored her and continued with her story, "And then one day he finally admitted that he had feelings for me."

"What did you say?" Kari asked.

"Well, at the time, I didn't know what to say, he totally surprised me. I hadn't moved yet, but we were in the process. My family and I were occupied travelling back and forth to get everything settled in New York. We've spent some time together since that day, but he's always really busy. You know Joe, if he's not busy, he's worrying out about why he isn't busy. So we mostly just communicate through letters."

"If you like each other why don't you guys make time for each other?" Yolei asked.

"I wish things were that simple, Yolei, but honestly, I'm not worried about it. We're both so busy: in a couple years, he'll be a doctor, and hopefully I'll be a professional model. Then we'll be together, I just know it," Mimi said, smiling.

"Wow, Mimi," Yolei said. "I wish I had your confidence in love."

"Why do you say that, Yolei?" Sora asked.

"Is there someone particular you have your eye on?" Mimi asked slyly.

"Well," Yolei said, "Sort of, I mean, he's just a friend…"

"It's Ken isn't it?" Mimi said.

"Yeah," Yolei admitted, sighing. "How did you know?"

"Yolei, everyone knows. You've had a crush on Ken ever since you first saw him on the news report," Kari told her.

"Oh yeah," Yolei remembered that day in the computer lab when she had first heard his name mentioned. "He was the Digimon Emperor then, so my crush definitely went away when we figured that out, but now that I've gotten to be such good friends with him, it's back. We talk all the time online now. I wish he went to our school. I told him he should come be a part of The Phantom too, but he claims he can't sing, like he could be bad at anything!"

The other girls laughed. "Hmm," contemplated Mimi. "Maybe you just need to show him how you feel. You know, let him know that you'd be interested in being more than friends."  
"How do I do that?" Yolei asked, eager for Mimi to teach her more about how to ensnare a boy.

"Well, you have to be subtle, you don't want to ask him out, because then he might feel obligated to say yes, even though he might not want to. You have to give him hints so that he'll know that if he does decide to ask you out, which he will, of course, you won't reject him."

Yolei's yawn interrupted her. "This sounds complicated," Yolei said drowsily. "Maybe you can tell more about this tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Sora said yawning as well. "I think we should get some sleep." She laughed suddenly. "I was just going to say that we know how Tai likes to get everyone going early in the morning. I guess I was thinking about all those times back then when we had to camp here in the digital world."

The others laughed with her before they said their goodnights and settled into their sleeping bags. Yolei, Mimi, and Sora all drifted easily off to sleep, but Kari lay awake for quite awhile staring at the roof of the tent, thinking about how they had camped all those years ago. They hadn't had tents then, which Kari figured was why she felt so uncomfortable sleeping in one now. She wanted to sleep outside under the sky where she could feel the night air.

Moving quietly, so as not to disturb the girls beside her, Kari folded up her sleeping bag and slipped on her sandals. Sneakily, she unzipped the door of the tent and climbed out into the trees beyond. The girls had set their tent up in a small space between the trees, which gave them some privacy away from the beach and the boys.

She crept quietly past the boys' tents and the sleeping digimon to a spot further down the beach.

A twig snapped behind her, making her spin around thinking that maybe moving away from the protection of the digimon had not been such a wise choice, after all.

Luckily for her, it was only T.K.

"What are you doing out here, Kari?" he asked.

"I wanted to sleep out here by the water," she explained, unrolling her sleeping bag on the ground. "What are you doing out here?"

"Following you," he said. "I heard someone outside and since the others were asleep I thought I should check it out."

She smiled up at him as she crawled into her sleeping bag. "No need to worry, I'm no evil digimon."

"Do you mind if I stay out here with you?" he asked.

"I'd like that," she said, scooting to one side of her sleeping bag to make room for him as he climbed in beside her and wrapped her in his arms.

"It's about time," a voice said from above their heads. They both panicked until they realized they were looking up into Gatomon's blue eyes.

"Does this mean you two finally admit that you love each other?" Patamon asked, folding his wings as he landed gently on the ground beside her.

"Uhh…well…sorta…" T.K. replied, very elegantly.

"We've been waiting for a long time for this to happen," they said. Kari giggled as they lay down next to them.

Kari sighed into T.K.'s shoulder, enjoying the sensation of their hearts beating together. What more could she have asked for? At this precise moment, all of her worries and cares were forgotten; there was only the waves crashing beneath their feet, the gentle rustle of the trees in the night breeze, Gatomon's soft fur curled up beside her, and T.K.'s warm body beside her. Yep, she had everything she ever wanted.


	12. The Discovery

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 12 – The Discovery**

When the first rays of morning light illuminated the lake, Kari and T.K. snuck quietly back into their tents where their friends were all still sound asleep. The next night they followed the same pattern, meeting out on the beach after everyone else had fallen asleep.

"What are you laughing at?" T.K. asked her as she giggled quietly beside him.

"I was just thinking about how much alike you are to the Phantom," she said.

He looked confused. "I'm not sure if that's much of a compliment."

"Of course I mean it in a good way," she told him. "I don't think you're an obsessed psychopath or anything, but the Phantom is a deeply passionate character."

"Uh...thanks then, I guess."

"What I mean is that you'll do anything for the people you care about, even if it means traveling to the Dark Ocean. Or like last year when Matt and Tai were losing against Diaboromon, and you were determined to go online and help them."  
"Well, I had help with that one, you went with me, remember?" he said, pulling her close.

She thought for a minute. "Ok, maybe you're not like the Phantom. I don't think you'd ever kidnap me or kill anyone who isn't an evil digimon." They both laughed.

"Well, I think you're a lot like Christine," he told her, "in a good way."

She smiled, motioning for him to continue.

"You always see the good in people. Remember when you saved the Numemon from WaruMonzaemon and they called you their queen?"

Kari frowned, she had been very sick when that happened. Those few days were a little fuzzy in her memory, though she did distinctly remember the Numemon's chanting of "Queen Kari."

"Or when Andromon was being controlled by a Dark Ring? We tried to warn you to get away, but you insisted that he would remember you."

Kari smiled at that memory. The memories she had invoked in Andromon, along with light from her D-3, had allowed Andromon to overpower the Dark Ring issued by Ken, who was at that time the Digimon Emperor.

"There are lots of times I'm glad I'm not like Christine," she told him. "Sometimes, I even feel sorry for her. She's so confused because she loves Raoul but then she feels so compelled toward the Phantom. It's like she's always pulled in two different directions. Her head and her heart say she should be with Raoul, but then her body and even her soul lean toward the Phantom, even though he terrifies her."

"He also lies and tricks her into thinking he's an angel," T.K. added.

"Yeah," Kari agreed. She snuggled closer into his warmth. "I guess I'm just lucky."

T.K. shifted slightly away from her body so he could kiss her lips. "Kari," he whispered in her ear, "I love you."

She kissed him back. "I love you too," she murmured, feeling nothing but ecstasy, as the waves of happiness washed over her. Kari fell asleep with a big smile on her face for the second time that week.

The next morning, when Kari opened her eyes it was bright and sunny, she could tell it was a good start to a good day. She stretched her legs and arms, careful not to wake T.K. who was still sleeping soundly beside her. Her stirrings, however, woke up as well and he opened his eyes slowly in the bright light.

She smiled at him and kissed him good morning, when suddenly, a shadow fell on them. That's when Kari's heart started to race. It was bright and sunny. What time was it?

"Takeru Takaishi," Tai said as he stood right above their heads. Kari turned toward T.K., thinking that maybe together they could explain things to Tai without the others finding out. T.K., however, was already on his feet backing away from her, which was probably the smart thing to do because then Tai said, "T.K., I'm going to kill you!"

T.K. didn't think twice before taking off down the beach running away from the furious Tai. "Come back here!" Tai yelled, racing after him.

Kari watched as Tai chased him, down the beach and then into the trees, Tai's occasional threats drifting back toward the beach. It seemed that Tai had been the first to rise, but hearing his shouts, the others were now waking up as well.

She gathered her sleeping bag and headed back toward her tent.

"Should I go help him?" Patamon asked Kari.

"Do you want me to hold Tai back?" Agumon asked, but Kari shook her head.

"No," Matt said, stepping out of his tent. "They should work it out on their own."

Gatomon sighed, "Human boys are so weird."

When she unzipped the door to her tent, she was not surprised to find Mimi, Sora, and Yolei all awake and preparing for the day.

"What is going on out there?" Mimi asked.

"We heard shouting," Yolei said.

Kari was about to explain, when they heard a rustle behind the tent. Mimi shrieked as T.K. dashed by, quickly followed by a cursing Tai.

"Come back here, T.K.! You think you can outrun a soccer player!"

"Do I want to know?" Sora asked and Kari shook her head no.

When the girls finally emerged, the rest of the digi-destined team was gathered near the campfire, beginning to fix breakfast while ignoring the life-or-death chase taking place in the background. After she had eaten, Kari decided that it was probably time to go save T.K. She walked a few feet into the forest, beyond the girls' tent and waited by the trunk of a large tree.

She didn't have to wait long. T.K. came dashing through the brush just moments later, sweat dripping down his body as he panted. Tai followed in a much similar condition. Kari stepped out of from behind the tree, making both boys halt before they crashed into her, though not before crashing into each other.

Kari helped each boy to his feet before turning on her brother.

"Tai, stop this, you're being ridiculous!"

He glared at T.K.

T.K. tried to add something, but Kari cut him off. "Tai, I promise you, nothing happened, but even if it did, it wouldn't be any of your business."

"Of course it's my business, Kari," he said. "You're my little sister."

"And T.K.'s my boyfriend. We're seventeen years old Tai. We're not little kids anymore."

Tai sighed, hunching his shoulders in defeat. "Fine. I get it it. You don't need me to protect you now, you have T.K."

Kari hugged her sweaty brother. "Of course I need you to protect me, Tai, you're my brother. I just don't need you to protect me from T.K."

Tai returned her hug. "But don't expect me to be nice anymore to you, T.K.," he glared from over Kari's shoulder. Kari laughed as the three of them headed back to camp.

"I can't say I'm surprised you two are dating, but why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" Tai asked.

"Well," Kari said, "we didn't want Davis to find out. He's our friend and we didn't want to hurt him."

Tai nodded but said, "He's going to find out eventually." They emerged from the forest very near the campsite where the others where now cleaning up from breakfast. "I think now's a good time."

Before Kari could say anything to stop her older brother, Tai marched right into the circle around the fire pit and announced that he had been chasing T.K. because he had just found out that T.K. was dating his younger sister without telling him.

The reactions of their friends were varied. Mimi and Yolei squeezed Palmon and Hawkmon while squealing with delight and claiming they had known all along. Sora and Matt shared smug looks with Biyomon and Gabumon, not surprised at all. Joe and Gomamon congratulated the two of them, while Izzy and Cody were understandably surprised, then turned back to their business, already moving on from the announcement.

And then there was Davis. He sat directly across the circle from where they had emerged from the forest with Veemon, Ken, and Wormmon. Ken and Wormmon rose to offer their congratulations as well, but Davis didn't move. When he looked up at Kari, she could see the obvious hurt in his eyes.

T.K. made for his tent to change out of his night clothes, so Kari moved to sit down beside Davis.

"Davis, I'm really sorry you had to find out like this," she said. "Please don't be upset."

He looked up at her and faked a smile. "I'm fine. I shouldn't be surprised. I guess, I should've seen it coming."

Kari smiled back, even though she knew he was faking it. "Still friends?" she asked, almost hesitantly.

"Sure," he said before walking away.

T.K. emerged from his tent fully dressed and ready for the day's activities. There wasn't anything particular planned that day, so it was every mon for himself, so to speak. Some decided to stay at the campsite and go swimming while others decided to go hiking through the forest in hope of finding some old friends. Kari, T.K., Gatomon, and Patamon decided to journey to Primary Village for the day to visit Elecmon and his charges, the digi-eggs and baby digimon.

As they set out toward the village, Matt, Sora, Biyomon, and Gabumon joined them.

"Wow, T.K.," Matt said a few minutes into their walk. "You sure got Tai upset today. I haven't seen him that mad since we used to fight."

They all laughed at T.K.'s sweat drop.

Sora patted his arm. "Relax, T.K., he's just kidding."

T.K. turned toward his brother. "I'm not so sure, you weren't the one he was chasing this morning. I don't know what he would've done to me if he had caught me."

Kari giggled, "Really, T.K., he wasn't that mad."

"How can you be so sure?" T.K. asked, unbelieving.

Matt agreed with Kari. "Even I could tell he wasn't mad. If he had been, he would've caught you, and no one would have been able to help you."

T.K. shivered slightly, but Kari took his hand reassuringly. Matt and Sora moved ahead of them, whispering to each other and smiling, already lost in their own world, so T.K. and Kari let them move ahead, the digimon's easy chatter filling the space in between them.

"I wouldn't have let anything happen to you," Kari told him.

T.K. smiled at the role switch. He wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked. "Usually I'm the one who says that to you," he pointed out, making Kari laugh.

"Don't worry, T.K., I'll protect you. Big, scary, Tai won't hurt you," she teased, but T.K. didn't laugh, remembering the look on Tai's face when he had woken them that morning.

"How did Davis take the news?" he asked.

Kari frowned, "I guess, ok, all things considered. I apologized for not telling him but I don't think it helped."

"I'm sure he just needs time to accept it," T.K. said. Kari nodded, but didn't seem to agree. "Maybe I'll just talk to him later," he added.

Although Kari wasn't sure that T.K. discussing their relationship with Davis would make much of a difference, she quickly forgot her concerns as the forest opened up in front of them to reveal the bright colors and shapes of Primary Village.

They spent a wonderful day visiting with Elecmon and playing with the baby digimon, though before long, it was time for them to return to the lake before nightfall. Though the evil and ill-tempered digimon were mostly gone or had been forced to change their ways, there was still the danger of becoming lost in the woods at night. Luckily, they left the village with plenty of time to find their way back.

Almost all of the others were back as well, preparing their evening meal. The only ones who hadn't returned were Davis and Veemon. Kari felt a nervous pinch in her stomach as she looked around for him. He wasn't in his tent, he wasn't by the lake, and he wasn't by the campfire. And it turned out, after talking to everyone else, that no one had seen him since them since morning.


	13. The Search

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 13 – The Search**

A few hours later when everyone was yawning and getting ready for bed, Davis still hadn't returned. Kari was almost frantic. Her mind kept showing her images of him injured, attacked, sick, replaying everything that could have happened to him. She wanted badly to send out search parties to make sure he was alright, or go search for him herself, but Ken held her back.

"He'll come back when he's ready, Kari," Ken told her. "He just needs to sort through things on his own."

Kari was about to share with him all of the horrors she had imagined when Gatomon surprised her by agreeing with Ken.

"Veemon is with him," Gatomon pointed out.

T.K. agreed as well. "Veemon will make sure nothing happens to Davis," he added.

"Yeah between the two of them they almost have half a brain," Gatomon joked, but Kari didn't feel like laughing.

She wasn't the only one who was worried. Both Cody and Mimi agreed with her that he could be in trouble. It wasn't much like Davis to go off on his own for this long, especially since he had missed both lunch and dinner. Finally, Tai compromised with all of them and decided that if Davis didn't return by morning they would search for him, if only to make sure he was alright.

Still, Kari didn't sleep well that night. She felt horribly guilty about everything that had happened. She just couldn't stand the thought of something bad happening to her friend, especially knowing she was responsible. It didn't help that she was sleeping in the tent for the night too. As much as they wanted to, she and T.K. both felt that sleeping together in the open wouldn't be a good idea if Tai ever woke up before them again. She was grateful Tai hadn't mentioned their sleeping arrangements to the others that morning. Although nothing had happened between them during their nights together, she knew others would assume differently knowing they had shared a sleeping bag.

When Kari awoke the next morning, she was hoping to hear Davis's snoring from the next tent, but it seemed that he and Veemon had not returned during the night. Breakfast was a quiet affair that morning. Everyone was thinking about where Davis might be and what he was up to, but no one felt like sharing their ideas. She could tell that some like Ken and Matt thought that Davis just needed to be alone, while others like Mimi and Cody were worried that something had happened.

Tai was true to his word and split the team into groups of to search the island. "Ok everyone, here's the plan: Sora can fly to Mount Miharashi and the Yokomon Village and search there, Yolei can fly south to the coast, Mimi can go to Toy Town, Izzy to the temple, or what's left of it nowadays, Cody to the factory, and Joe can stay here and search the lake and nearby forest." That left Matt, T.K., Kari, and Ken.

He pulled Ken aside as the others took off for their destinations. "Ok, Ken, I don't think Davis could have really gotten that far, but would you and Stingmon mind flying north? Beyond Infinity Mountain where everything is frozen? I don't think it's possible Davis could have made it all the way there by now, but it's the most dangerous place on the island for him, so we can't ignore it," Tai explained.

Ken nodded as Wormmon digivolved and they took off.

"What about us?" T.K. asked as he and his brother looked at Tai.

"Matt," Tai said, "I need you to go to that old creepy church. You remember the one Joe and Sora ended up at when Devimon broke up the island? They defeated the Bakemon there then, but if there's any evil left on this island, I'd bet anything that's where it would be."

Matt nodded as he and Gabumon took off in the direction of the church.

Then Tai looked down at Patamon, "We're going to need Pegasusmon to carry us to where we need to go," he said.

"And where's that?" T.K. asked.

"The top of Infinity Mountain."

"Tai, we can't go up there," Kari interjected. "It's dangerous!"

"Well, we're not going to be climbing it," Tai said, attempting to be reassuring.

T., agreeing with Tai. "It'll be perfectly safe flying there."

"And besides, it's not 'we' it's 'us,'" Tai said pointing to T.K. and himself. "You're going to Primary Village," he told his sister.

"But we were just there yesterday!" Kari said. "If Davis had been there we would have seen him."

"Still," Tai said, "better to ask Elecmon and make sure he hasn't been by there. Come on, we better get going."

Kari sighed and followed Tai and T.K. into the forest along the path to Primary Village, which sat at the base of Infinity Mountain.

"Tai, I really think I should go with you guys," Kari said.

"No," T.K. said, "I hate to agree with Tai on this, but it could be dangerous. I really think it would be better if you waited for us at Primary Village."

"Why would that be better?" Kari asked. "I'm the one responsible, this is all my fault. I'm the one who wanted to keep our relationship a secret from him."

T.K. put an arm around her. "Don't think like that, Kari," he told her. "It's not your fault. Davis probably would have reacted this way whenever we told him."

"He's right, Kari," Tai said. "It's no one's fault but Davis's. Believe me, I know exactly how Davis is feeling right now. When Sora picked Matt over me I was upset too, until I gave it some time and realized that they were happy together and I wanted both my friends to be happy. When I realized that, I finally saw that Sora and Matt had much more in common than I would've ever thought. That's why T.K. and I have to go up to Infinity Mountain and knock some sense into him."

"You're sure he's up there?" T.K. asked.

"About ninety-nine percent sure. I sent the others out in case I'm wrong, but I don't think I am," Tai said.

"How do you know he's there?" Gatomon asked.

"Because I know how Davis is feeling, and I know how his mind works," Tai said. "Climbing Infinity Mountain would seem like a great challenge to him and a perfect place to go where no one will find him."

"If he doesn't want to be found then why are we trying to find him?" asked Patamon.

"Because, like Kari said earlier, it's dangerous up there," said Tai. "There's a thousand different ways he could hurt himself up there."

"That's right," Agumon added. "There used to be a straight path up the mountain, but Devimon and the other evil digimon destroyed it so it's not easy to get to the top anymore," said Agumon

They reached Primary Village where Elecmon quickly told them he had not seen Davis or Veemon, but he had seen someone moving up the mountain. Kari, T.K., and Tai nodded to each other as Patamon digivolved to Pegasusmon so the two boys could climb onto his back.

"But why can't we come too? Nefertimon can fly just as well as Pegasusmon" Kari stated.

"Because Davis is probably pretty angry and he's going to want to take it out on T.K.," Tai explained. "It'll be better, and safer, if you wait here for us. Agumon'll stay here with you."

Agumon nodded, knowing he would be no help without a pair of wings.

Kari watched them take off, spiraling upwards toward the peak of the enormous mountain. It seemed like forever she waited with Gatomon and Agumon, the baby digimon bouncing all around her, dismayed by the lack of attention she was giving them.

What seemed like hours later, Kari saw the figures flying towards her from the mountain. They grew larger as they approached, though Kari knew them long before she was able to fully recognize them.

When they landed in the village beside her, Kari was relieved to see that both Davis and Veemon were with them. The second thing she noticed was the large black bruise forming around T.K.'s left eye.

Kari's first instinct was to run to T.K., but she paused to greet Davis first and to tell him how happy she was to see he was alright. He returned her greeting indifferently before walking back through the trees toward the lake.

Tai followed him wordlessly, leaving Kari to walk alongside T.K.

"Are you alright? What happened up there?" Kari asked as they walked behind the other two.

T.K. shrugged his shoulders but then said, "I'll tell you about it later." He gestured to where Davis and Veemon were walking ahead of them, signaling that he didn't want to say anything in front of them. "Tonight?" he asked, "By the lake?"

Kari nodded and smiled, already looking forward to spending time with him away from the others. They walked back in silence, and although Kari was extremely troubled by what had must have passed between the three boys, she knew it would be better not to ask.

When they arrived at the campsite, all of the others had returned except for Ken, who had traveled the farthest.

"Davis!" everyone exclaimed, glad to see their friend recovered and unhurt. Tai quickly explained that they had found him on Infinity Mountain. Davis, however, ignored everyone's questions as to why he had gone there. When they saw T.K.'s black eye, they quickly assumed, as Kari had, that there had been a fight between T.K. and Davis and ceased their questioning.

When Ken and Wormmon returned and the group was reunited once more, the night's campfire was built and jokes were shared. It seemed that everyone had completely forgotten Davis's disappearance except for Kari, who was constantly reminded by the shadow surrounding T.K.'s eye. She had filled a wash cloth with cool water from the lake for him, but as they had no ice, it was the best she could to help him. With the washcloth over half his face and the dark purplish bruise spreading across the top of his cheek, he looked more like the Phantom than ever.

This, of course, gave Matt and Tai the idea that they should practice the musical.

Tai began his opening line to the song "Masquerade:" "Dear Andre, what a splendid party."

"The prologue to a bright new year," Matt followed.

"Quite a night, I'm impressed," sang Tai.

"Well one does one's best…Here's to us!" Matt lifted an imaginary glass and pretended to clang it to Tai's.

"I must say, all the same, that it's a shame that Phantom fellow isn't here!" Tai and Matt both stopped, realizing that they were missing the chorus that entered here and picked up the rest of the song.

The others laughed at their mistake. "If we're going to practice," Izzy said, "it would make more sense to practice a scene or song that includes all of us."

"I'm not sure there is one, Izzy," said Yolei. "We are most of the cast. We should just pick one that doesn't require the chorus."

"Maybe we should wait until we get home," Sora said. "I'm sure Mimi, Ken, and Cody don't want to listen to us practice."

"Actually Sora," Mimi interjected, "that's my favorite musical. The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite song. Practice that one!"

Ken and Cody also declared that they didn't mind their practicing at all, so Matt pulled out his harmonica.

"It's not an orchestra, but it'll work," he said before he played the introduction of the song.

The rest of the group turned to face Kari and T.K. The song "The Phantom of the Opera" involved only Christine and the Phantom, as he kidnaps her from her dressing room to take her to his underground cave beneath the theater after her debut performance.

Although Kari didn't feel much like singing, the other's encouragement provoked her. She smiled hesitantly up at T.K. before she began singing along to Matt's harmonica. "In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came, that voice which calls to me and speaks my name. And do I dream again? For now I find, the phantom of the opera is there inside my mind."

T.K. replied, "Sing once again with me, our strange duet. My power over you grows stronger yet. And though you turn from me, to glance behind, the phantom of the opera is there inside your mind."

"Those who have seen your face draw back in fear. I am the mask you wear."

"It's me they hear."

Simultaneously Kari sang, "Your spirit and my voice…"

While T.K. sang, "My spirit and your voice…"

And together they sang, "In one combined, the phantom of the opera is there inside my/your mind."

They paused where the others picked up as the chorus to sing, "Is that the phantom of the opera? Beware the phantom of the opera."

Then it was T.K.'s line again, "In all your fantasies, you always knew that man and mystery…"

Kari continued, "Were both in you."

Together again, they sang, "And in this labyrinth where night is blind, the phantom of the opera is here."

"Inside my mind," Kari added.

The song was nearing its end while T.K. spoke instead of sang, "Sing, my Angel of Music!"

Kari sang one more line, "He's there, the phantom of the opera," before the song ended on purely vocal notes while T.K. encouraged her to sing for him.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"The Phantom of the Opera"

Andrew Lloyd Webber

The Phantom of the Opera


	14. The Moment

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 14 – The Moment**

Kari knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep much that night. When the girls retired to their tent Kari willed them all to sleep soon so she could sneak out and meet T.K. by the lake. Unfortunately, Yolei, Sora, and Mimi had no intentions of falling asleep early. They were up for several hours contemplating why Davis had climbed Infinity Mountain and what had taken place when Tai and T.K. had found him there.

They questioned Kari many times about what she knew, but they were disappointed when she told them honestly that she hadn't a clue what had happened. The possibilities were endless, Kari realized, after her friends had gone through what seemed like hundreds of different scenarios.

Kari relished the moment when they were all finally asleep in their sleeping bags beside her. Quietly, she snuck out of the tent as she had done so in the nights before.

T.K. stood waiting for her in the trees just down the beach in their usual spot. He stepped out onto the sand as she approached.

The night air around them was hot and sticky, the humidity level much higher than it had been throughout the entire trip. Surprisingly, this was the first time she had noticed how the all of the time spent outdoors in the sun was turning his skin to dusky gold. In the dim moonlight, his cornflower blue eyes contrasted beautifully with his fair hair. Her heart pounded in her chest as she approached him. It was definitely not the first time she noticed how his thin t-shirt clung to his muscular chest.

As they met, her eyes were pulled to the shadow around his eye and the business aspect of their meeting was restored.

"How's your eye?" she asked, reaching up to lay a hand on his cheek below the bruise.

He shrugged his shoulders, but contradicted the casual motion by smiling down at her. "I'll live."

"T.K., what happened up there? Did Davis hit you?"

"Yeah," T.K. sat down on the sand, pulling her down beside him. They sat close together, the side of their hips and legs pressed together. "When we got to the top of Infinity Mountain Davis was just sitting there, staring down at everything through the clouds. Veemon was trying to convince him to climb back down but he just kept telling him he wasn't ready yet. When we saw that he was alright I wanted to go back and let him be, but Tai wouldn't listen to any of my persuasions."

Kari snorted, "Sounds like Tai."

T.K. continued, "He jumped off Pegasusmon and just started yelling at Davis for being insensitive and making everyone worry about him. I tried to pull him back, but I think he was actually getting through to Davis. At least, Davis genuinely looked sorry. Until he saw me, that is. I apologized again for not telling him about us sooner, but he flew at me. I blocked a few of his hits, but one got in," he pointed up at his eye. "Davis and I have fought before, but never like that. If Tai hadn't been there to pull Davis off me, I don't know what would've happened."

Kari grabbed T.K.'s hand in hers and he lifted it to kiss her fingers.

"Afterwards, we just laughed it off," T.K. said, "but something was still not right. I don't think he'll ever forgive me, Kari."

Kari could no longer feel his lips against her skin. He had lost a good friend because of her. What kind of girlfriend was she if she made such a bad thing happen?

As if he read her mind, T.K. said, "This isn't your fault, Kari." He kissed her lips sweetly. "Besides, you're definitely worth a black eye."

She felt an involuntary smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she kissed him back. As things heated up between them, Kari felt as hot and sticky as the night was. The lake, however, sat below them cool and inviting as the waves teasingly lapped against the shore. When she and T.K. finally pulled away from each other they stared out at the moonlit water.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kari asked him, unbuttoning her shorts.

T.K. looked beyond flustered as she stripped in front of him, revealing her lacy pink undergarments. Before he could manage to say anything in response, however, she raced into the surf. He didn't hesitate to follow, pulling his cotton t-shirt over his head as he ran after her.

Before she turned to look back at him, he dove beneath the surface and sneakily swam behind her, careful to stay low on the sandy floor so she wouldn't notice him. Suddenly, he grabbed her ankles and flipped her down into the water.

She screamed out in surprise before dipping beneath the waves. T.K. was laughing as he emerged from the surface, wiping the water droplets from his eyes.

"Shh, Kari," he told her as she regained her footing. "You'll wake everyone up."

She shoved his chest playfully and pushed him backwards into the water.

"Or maybe you'll wake up Seadramon," he teased. "We know one lives here."

Kari shivered involuntarily. She hadn't thought about Seadramon. "But without the black gears or black rings he's bound to be friendly now."

"I don't know," T.K. said, trying to scare her. "I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night."

She wrapped her arms around his torso, painfully aware of the distance between her and the campfire where Gatomon, Patamon, and the other digimon were sleeping soundly.

He returned her embrace. "I'm just kidding. I didn't mean to scare you, Kari."

She laughed as she leaned her head against his bare shoulder. Her fear of a cranky underwater digimon was fading but the need to be close to T.K. was most definitely not. They were floating now in the water, the waves rocking them rhythmically against each other.

All of the tension she had been building up the last few days eased out of her body as the cool water refreshed and revived her. Kari felt invigorated holding onto T.K. like she was. Each time his bare skin would brush against her she could swear there were electric currents traveling down her body. Surprisingly, even though she was extremely aware that she was wearing next to no clothing, she was not feeling self-conscious at all. There was a certain freedom in being naked against him, knowing he wouldn't judge, just accept and love her body and all its flaws. She had never guessed that it would be so pleasurable either.

A soft sigh escaped her as his lips trailed lightly over her neck and collarbone. Their bodies pressed closer together, the meager layers of thin fabric that separated them were nearly nonexistent in the water.

Kari was slightly surprised when she felt the sandy bottom rise up beneath her feet. She hadn't noticed they were moving back towards the beach, but grabbed his hand as they dragged themselves out of the water and onto the pure white sand.

Her heart was racing so fast the next thing she knew they were lying in the sand wrapped around each other as he ravished her mouth with his. Hands were moving quickly as they struggled to remove the last layer of clothes between them.

There was a brief moment of hesitation for both of them; the silent realization that their relationship was reaching a new level and the understanding that if they wanted to stop, this was the moment. Then their eyes met. For Kari, it was just like being on stage performing with him. She knew that whenever she felt nervous all she had to do was look into his eyes to calm her nerves. At this moment as well, she stared into those beautiful blue depths and felt no uncertainty.

It was that moment she knew. No, this was not the point where she fell in love with him or realized that she loved him; she had always loved him and she suspected that she had been in love with him for the greater majority of her life. This was the moment where she became fully aware of just how deeply she was in love with him.

Seeing a look of concern in her eyes, T.K. hesitated momentarily. He leaned forward until his mouth was right next to her ear and whispered, "Kari, I love you so much."

"I know," she replied as she reached down to touch him. "T.K., I'm in love with you."

He smiled as his fingers caressed her. The pleasure he showed her was unlike anything she had ever experienced and left her aching for more.

Much later, when they finally collapsed into the sand, the tiny annoying granules clinging to their bodies, T.K. hummed in her ear as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

He stroked her soft hair and whispered their favorite lines: "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime…Lead me, save me from my solitude…"

He motioned sliding a ring onto her finger.

"Say you want me with you, here, beside you…" he continued. "Anywhere you go let me go too…Kari, that's all I ask of you."

She laughed as he changed the last line to fit her name instead of Christine. So completely absorbed in each other and their happiness, neither of them noticed the pair of eyes that watched them from behind the trees.


	15. The Mirror

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 15 – The Mirror**

The rest of their vacation in the digital world flew by and Kari wasn't the only one sad to see their departure date nearing. Apparently, Kari was also not the only one sneaking out for a secret rendezvous at night. The morning after their last night in the digital world Kari had practically toppled over Mimi who was struggling to unzip the entrance to their tent. In the tussle, their confused exclamations unfortunately woke Sora, who surprisingly turned out to have been the only one asleep in the tent.

"What's going on?" Sora asked sleepily.

Kari and Mimi exchanged glances as they stepped into the tent.

Sora looked around. "Is something happening? Where's Yolei?"

"She must be with Ken," Kari said to Mimi.

"Go, Yolei, go!" was Mimi's response.

"Wait a minute. Yolei's with Ken? And you two?" Realization filled Sora's face as Kari blushed nervously. "You're telling me that you guys are sneaking around, waking me up at this hour all because you can't keep it in your pants for one week?" Kari was grateful their tent was a ways away from the boys' tents; if they had been any closer the others would have most certainly heard Sora's yelling.

They heard a crash outside, several angry voices, and then a voice that was unmistakably Tai's that yelled out, "Joe!"

Mimi turned around to unzip the tent enough to peer outside at what had happened and Kari and Sora joined her at their little window. The older boys' tent was caving in at one side where Joe must have fallen on top of it. Tai, Matt, and Izzy were all cursing angrily as they tried to crawl out of their collapsing tent, though it seemed that Joe had fallen on the side with the door.

In front of the disaster, Yolei was sprawled face first in the dirt so Kari could only assume that she had been the one to knock Joe over. Yolei quickly climbed to her feet and made her way back to their tent. When Kari looked towards the younger boys' tent she saw a flash of jet black hair moving behind the door flap.

Joe was almost back on his feet when Yolei reached them. Mimi unzipped the rest of the door, grabbed Yolei's arm and jerked her inside headfirst. At the same moment, Tai's managed to poke his head out of his tent.

"Joe! What are you doing?"

The four girls watched with wide eyes. Tai probably wouldn't mind any of the other couples sneaking around the camp at night, but if word got back to him that T.K. and Kari had been one of them, no one would be able to keep T.K. safe from him this time.

"I…uhh…" Joe stammered, "I had to go to the bathroom!"

Tai gave him a quizzical look. "Well geez, watch where you're going next time! You woke us all up!"

Joe slumped his shoulders as he followed Tai back into their tent.

The girls all breathed a sigh of relief when the door finally zipped close. Sora fluffed her pillow and crawled back into her sleeping bag.

"Way to go, guys," she mumbled as she tried to fall back to sleep.

"So I take it this means Ken finally knows how you feel?" Kari asked Yolei. Yolei simply smiled back at them in response.

"Wow, Yolei, you move fast," Mimi said, "but at least she didn't bring sand back into the tent." She turned to look at Kari who blushed as she remembered the night she and T.K. had swam in the lake. The morning after that night on the beach, Kari had had so much sand stuck to her that when she returned to their tent it had looked like she had dumped a bucket of sand on the floor. Her sleepwalking explanation, however, had not held up to Mimi and Yolei's suspicions.

The three other girls followed Sora's example and tried to catch some shuteye before sunrise. Kari couldn't sleep, though. Like the others, she was ready to return home to her own mattress and indoor plumbing. At the same time though, it seemed like this camping trip had been a huge step in her life. This was where T.K. had told her he loved her for the first time. And it wasn't likely that Kari would ever forget the nights they spent together.

She even felt different; not like a different person, just changed. For the better. Every time she thought of her night with T.K. on the beach she felt butterflies dance in her stomach. They hadn't done everything, but they had definitely enjoyed each other. The first time of many times, she hoped.

They left the digital world later that day to return to their world. It was one of their happier goodbyes as their digital friends promised to visit the real world for the Phantom's opening night.

Luckily for them, on Monday when their rehearsals started up again Mrs. Fujita was very pleased with their progress. She no longer complained about their lack of passion, anyway. It seemed that with opening night drawing nearer and nearer, the entire cast had stepped it up a notch. Their rehearsals were continuously ending in sweat and tears as everyone gave everything they had.

It was almost a miraculous sight to see. Kari remembered thinking that there was no way they could pull off such a humongous production in just a few months. Now, Kari was surprisingly being proven wrong each day. Every rehearsal there was a new set finished, a new costume completed, and a new song perfected.

Kari was living, breathing, and sleeping for the Phantom of the Opera. It was all she thought about. Even her schoolwork was on hold. When Kari received her chemistry scores after one of their unit exams, she was amazed that she had passed as she had sacrificed studying for practicing the graveyard scene and the song, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again."

Everything was evolving without a hitch. During one of their last rehearsals, however, they were running through the scene in the dressing room after Christine's solo, "Think of Me."

Sora ushered Kim off stage after they sang their duet, "Angel of Music," and Davis entered. This was the part where Raoul first reunites with his childhood friend Christine and they sing "Little Lotte." Kari smiled at Davis, a genuine smile, glad to have her friend back, even if they were just pretending to like each other.

The scene was flawless, at least until Davis turned to exit the stage and accidently stepped on her dress. There was a loud tearing noise as the fabric ripped open at the seam.

"Cut!" Mrs. Fujita yelled, as the costume designer ran onstage. Their "costume designer" was actually their home economics teacher, and she did not look pleased at the rip in the costume. Davis apologized profusely as Kari was taken backstage where she changed out of the dress so it could be repaired.

After the costume malfunction, everyone seemed to be on edge, as if waiting for something else to go wrong. Nothing did, but the quality of their performance was greatly weakened.

When Mrs. Fujita ended the night's rehearsal she added a long lecture on how to be careful around the props and costumes. They couldn't afford any more accidents so close to opening night. The speech was mostly directed towards Davis, and Kari even felt a little sorry for him as everyone turned to glare at him.

Kari was gathering her things in the dressing room when T.K. caught up to her.

"Hey, sorry I can't walk home with you today," he said. "But we're having a video game tournament tonight at Matt's so I'm going to head over to his apartment with him now."

Kari smiled teasingly up at him. "You know, T.K., I like video games."

T.K. was dumbfounded. It probably hadn't occurred to him to invite her along. "Well, you can come if you want…it's just that it's probably going to be just us guys…" he stammered.

Kari laughed at his embarrassment. "I'm kidding, T.K. I have to study history tonight anyways." She kissed his cheek. "Have fun with the boys, though!"

He pulled her back in for a real kiss. "I'll call you later when I get home."

They were interrupted as Tai coughed loudly behind them, giving T.K. one of his threatening glares. She told T.K. goodbye as he hurried away from Tai.

"Tell mom I'm going to Matt's too," he told his younger sister. "So I won't be home for dinner."

She told him that she would pass on his message as he followed T.K. out the door. Kari was about to leave, herself, when one of the younger freshman students dashed into the dressing room.

"Good, you're still here," she said. "Mrs. Kazama is finished with Christine's dress and she needs you to try it on." She led Kari behind the stage to another little dressing room where Mrs. Kazama had set up a table for her sewing machine, racks for all of the finished costumes, and stacked piles of fabric on one side of the room.

She held up Christine's white sparkling gown for Kari to try on. When Kari was done modeling, Mrs. Kazama declared herself extremely happy with the fix. It fit as perfectly as it had before Davis had stepped on it and there wasn't a single trace that any stitch had been broken.

Mrs. Kazama nodded and folded up her sewing kit. She gave Kari a stern look. "Bring it back here and hang it up properly when you take it off." Kari blamed her mother for the fact that home economics had never been her strong suit. She turned to give Kari one last frown before she left. Mrs. Kazama was one of the few teachers in the school who hadn't taken a liking to Kari.

Kari headed back across the stage to the dressing room, enjoying the feel of the wide skirt against her legs as she moved. She felt so elegant and glamorous wearing Christine's gown, she wondered for a second if they might let her keep it after the performance. She doubted it. It wasn't like she would have any occasion to wear it again. Except maybe to prom, if she went, that is.

When she stepped onto the stage the lights were off, just like they would be the next time she crossed the stage wearing this dress. Then the lights would turn on, hot and bright and focused directly on her. She knew she would be so blinded by them she wouldn't be able to see the audience sitting in the red velvet chairs of the auditorium. She twirled around, the white fabric fanning out in the circular motion.

The mirror was still set up behind the vanity prop of Christine's dressing room. She crossed over so that she was standing in front of it. Not sure why, she began singing some of her lines from the scene they had practiced earlier that evening.

"Angel of Music, guide and guardian grant to me your glory. Angel of Music hide no longer, come to me strange angel."

She peered into the mirror, where she could almost hear T.K.'s voice singing the reply. Then she leapt back and screamed in surprise. There was a face staring back at her in the mirror!


	16. The Confrontation

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 16 – The Confrontation**

Kari's heart was pounding, adrenaline coursed through her body.

"Davis! You scared me!" She had recognized the face staring out at her as his.

He laughed a little bit as he stepped out from behind the prop. When he looked at her, Kari felt a shiver run along her spine. Outwardly, he looked the same, though the dark circles just underneath his eyes gave his face a very different look than his usual cheerful self. There was something else as well in the way he looked at her that made her uneasy.

"What are you doing here so late?" she asked him, trying to move backwards in steps as small as possible so he wouldn't notice.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Waiting for you."

"Why? What's wrong? Is everything ok?"

He took a step towards her, almost menacingly. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck were prickling; she recognized the feeling as the same when she had faced evil digimon.

"I think you're making a mistake, Kari," he said slowly, the pitch of his voice much deeper than normal.

"What do you mean?" she asked, the fear in her voice clearly ringing through.

He was still moving closer.

"How could you pick T.K. over me?"

She took a larger, more obvious step back away from him.

"Davis, I'm sorry, but I love T.K."

"He doesn't love you!" He reached out and grabbed her arm as she tried to take another backwards step. "He'll never love you like I love you!"

"Davis, let go of me!" she cried, but his grip only tightened. He was pulling her closer.

From the corner of her eye, Kari saw the flash of white before she heard the familiar voice yell, "Lightning Claw!"

Gatomon leapt out of the wing and aimed an attack right at Davis. He let go of Kari's arm instantly, stepping back to nurse the scratches across his face and chest. Kari scooped Gatomon into her arms as Davis jumped off the stage and ran out the exit doors to the lobby.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Kari asked Gatomon.

"Not unless he wants another scratch."

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

Gatomon looked up at her with her big blue cat eyes, "Veemon told me Davis had been acting funny so Patamon, Veemon, and I have been taking turns dogging him. Did he hurt you, Kari?"

She looked down at her arm; it was already turning purple where his fingers had dug into her. "I'll be alright," she reassured Gatomon. "I just need to change out of this dress before anything else happens."

Gatomon stayed with her for the rest of the day. Kari hoped the bruises would fade quickly as their dress rehearsal was scheduled for the very next day. The audience would probably not detect the discoloring from so far away, but the other cast members would when she wore the sleeveless dress, and she was sure they would have lots of questions about it.

Kari and Gatomon were watching television after dinner when Tai returned from Matt's, which meant she didn't have long to wait for the call she was expecting. Tai had barely shut the front door when their telephone rang.

"I'll get it," Tai called from the hallway, but Kari beat him to the punch.

"Hello," she said into the phone, relieved hear T.K.'s voice return the greeting. She had been terrified that Davis would confront T.K. next, maybe even violently. It wouldn't be the first physical fight between them.

"How was the tournament?" Kari asked.

"It was fun," he said hurriedly. "Hey, I know it's a school night and all, but my mom's going to be gone for the night if you want to come over."

Kari blushed as her heartbeat quickened. She told him that she definitely wanted to. They spoke quickly before hanging up. Kari raced around the apartment, gathering a change of clothes for the next day and all of the things she would need for school. She made sure to pull on a long sleeved sweater over her arms despite the warm spring night.

"Hey mom!" Kari called to her mother who had taken her place on the sofa. "Is it ok if I spend the night at Yolei's?"

"Honey, you have school in the morning. And the dress rehearsal is tomorrow. I really think you should stay home and get some rest…" Mrs. Kamiya began, but Kari pouted slightly.

"But mom we've been so busy with the play we hardly ever get to hang out anymore. I promise we'll go to bed early." Kari had to turn her face to hide the blush on her cheeks. "And we won't be late for school tomorrow, Yolei's never late."

Mrs. Kamiya considered it for a moment, "I guess you're right. Yolei's a good kid. Fine, you can go, as long as you get some sleep!"

She had to yell the last sentence as Kari was already racing out the door, Gatomon fast on her heels.

"I thought you were supposed to be following Davis?" Kari asked her digimon as they stepped out onto the street.

"I will, as soon as I know you're safe with T.K." Kari blushed again, but didn't ask how Gatomon knew she was really going to T.K.'s and not Yolei's.

Gatomon was true to her word: as soon as T.K. opened his apartment door for Kari, she crept back down the hallway toward the staircase. Kari felt a little ashamed as she watched Gatomon walk away. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with her; it was just that since her encounter with Davis all she really wanted to do was curl up in T.K.'s arms and forget about what had happened.

Every time she thought about the confrontation, she felt her stomach muscles clench involuntarily. Had she been naïve to believe Davis when he told her in the digital world that he was fine with her and T.K.'s relationship? Did she really think that everything would work out just the way she wanted to? Of course there wouldn't be any way she could date T.K. and still be friends with Davis. She couldn't have her cake and eat it too, or something like that.

Just look at history: love triangles never work out. There was Guinevere, King Arthur, and Lancelot, for one, though she guessed that no one really knew for sure how that worked out, but the stories were always complicated. Or in literature there was Catherine, Heathcliff, and Edgar from Emily Brontë's _Wuthering Heights_. In that story Catherine had gone against her heart and married Edgar because he loved her, though she had always truly loved Heathcliff. Maybe that comparison didn't work either, Kari thought. Perhaps that would be more of an analogy to what would have happened had she chosen Davis. Well, maybe not. T.K. was nothing like the awful Heathcliff, and Kari doubted that with modern medicine the chances of her dying anytime soon were much smaller than Catherine's had been.

There was only one triangle she could think of that had managed to end peacefully. She smiled to herself as she thought of Bella, Edward, and Jacob, the three main characters of the American book _Twilight_ that Yolei had recently lent her. In those stories, Bella had managed to deter Jacob's advances because she was always faithful to Edward. Kari would definitely be true to T.K., probably even more so than Bella had been, but she wasn't sure if it would help.

Of course, another famous love triangle was that between Christine, the Phantom, and Raoul. She would have to flip things though, to find the comparison. That would mean that Davis would be the crazed psychopath….She could only hope that was an extreme overestimation of his recent behavior.

Although the bruises on her arm still pained her, constantly reminding her of the change that had overcome one of her closest friends, she was able to finally relax with T.K. For a while they just lay on the couch wrapped around each other with the television playing in the background. Kari, at least, had given up pretending to even be watching. It was so distracting to be laying so close to him, his arms around her, the smooth skin of his neck just inches from her face.

It was her natural instinct to close the small distance and brush her lips over that perfect skin. She could feel him smile against her forehead as she kept kissing him. He lowered his head to kiss her mouth and everything she was worried about just fell away.

When he pulled her closer, he accidentally leaned against her bruised arm and she gasped involuntarily. He pulled back for a second to give her quizzical look so she maneuvered her way on top of him, straddling his lap as he leaned against the back of the couch. He smiled again as she kissed him, sliding against him, his hands gripping her waist.

It wasn't until he had tossed her shirt aside that she remembered what she had been trying to hide from him.

"Kari! What happened to your arm?"

"It's nothing," she said, trying to pull her arm away but he held her hand still. Before she could even make an excuse he had his hand above the bruises, laying his fingers along what clearly looked like five finger shaped bruises.

"Who did this to you?" He let go of her arm, as though afraid he had been the one to hurt her.

"If I tell you will you promise not to be mad?"

"What?" he looked at her disbelievingly. "I'm already mad! Bruises like that had to have hurt you. Whoever did this is going to have to deal with me now."

Kari realized that she wouldn't get anywhere that way. "Will you at least promise not to do anything stupid?"

He sighed. "Fine, but know that I consider stupid and what you consider stupid may be two entirely different things." He was obviously thinking that avenging her would not be in the stupid actions category. "Tell me what happened."

"It was Davis," she told him, relaying the story of what had taken place after the fitting of her dress. She even told him the things Davis had said to her and just as she expected, he was furious.

"I'm going to kill him!" he said, making Kari remember the day just months ago when Davis had told her the same thing about T.K. She had believed that Davis was angry enough to follow through on his threat, yet the thought of T.K. being similar to Davis in that capability scared her far more than Davis' transformation.

T.K. must have sensed the response in her and pulled her back to his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I'm sorry I said that, you know I wouldn't ever do that." She nodded into his shoulder. "Kari, I don't ever want you to be alone with him again. In fact, why don't you just make sure you're never alone, at least until Davis calms down a bit. We can talk to the other digimon and see if any of them would be willing to help out Veemon so Gatomon can stay with you at all times."

Kari had already gone through the precautions on her own, though she really hoped they wouldn't be necessary. She kissed his neck again, just as she had earlier, letting her lips trail down his throat to the collar of his shirt.

"Kari, I'm serious. This is serious. Something bad is going on with Davis; I don't know what he's capable of anymore."

She reached her hand underneath his shirt to caress his chest. "I know," she whispered to him. "But I don't want to think about it right now."

He kissed her in reply, though pulled away for her to pull his shirt up over his head, continuing where they had left off before he had discovered the marks on her arm. Both of them tried to forget about Davis and this unusual behavior, though it lay over their heads despite their best attempts at finding peace and comfort in each other.


	17. The Dress Rehearsal

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 17 – The Dress Rehearsal**

Kari tried her best to cover the bruises on her arm, but it wasn't an easy task to accomplish. The bruises had changed color overnight and were now sporting a greenish tinge around the edge of the dark purple and blue shades. She was sure that the marks would be near invisible to the audience exceeding maybe the very front rows. Hiding her arm from the rest of the cast, however, she knew would be much harder.

She arrived late to the dress rehearsal and had to scramble to change into her costume. When she made her way through the rushing cast members to the dressing room she was not surprised to find it full of people. The floor was lost under layers of clothes and shoes, girls were squeezing in front of mirrors to add finishing touches to their makeup, and every electrical socket in the room was occupied with curling irons, hair straighteners, and a dozen other accessories.

From beyond in the auditorium, Mrs. Fujita was yelling orders. Kari looked up at the clock on the wall as she threw off her street clothes and grabbed her first costume. Luckily, it was a simple dance leotard complete with pink ballet shoes and tights. She pulled open her makeup bag, mindlessly searching for the things she needed. Their rehearsals had taught her that she wouldn't have much time to change between her scenes so it was best to finish her face makeup now and touch it up later instead of changing it every time.

Yolei rushed into the room just as Kari applied the final coat of mascara to her lashes. Her friend was completely dressed as Carlotta, in a sweeping taffeta gown and her hair piled absurdly on top of her head in the stereotypical opera singer fashion.

"Kari! Where have you been? You were supposed to be here a half an hour ago!"

"I'm here now, Yolei, and I'm just about ready."

Yolei grabbed her hand as she turned back out the door. When Kari winced at the touch Yolei looked from Kari's eyes down to her arm.

"Kari, what happened?" she asked, taking in the dark marks.

Kari pulled her arm back, as she had when T.K. had asked her the very same question.

She opened her mouth to explain, but Yolei seemed to think better. "Tell me later," she said, "they already started, we're going on any second now."

Yolei was right. Kari heard the overture begin as she stepped out of the dressing room and into the backstage area. The curtains were closing and people were rushing to rearrange the set. She quickly spotted Kim, and made her way onstage beside her. They moved to the back of the stage where they were to be having a dance rehearsal with the other chorus girls.

Kari's eyes were blinded as the curtains opened and the lights illuminated the stage. Through the brightness Kari could see the empty seats of the first few rows. A flutter of nervous adrenaline pulsed in her and she couldn't even imagine how she would feel the next day, when the auditorium would be full of her family, classmates, and strangers.

Sora clapped a heavy cane against the wooden stage signaling the start of their dance rehearsal. Then she saw Matt and Tai enter the stage, the new owners of the opera being led by Monsieur Lefevre who was being played by a sophomore Kari did not know personally. They meet Yolei and Izzy, who are also rehearsing for the opera's production of _Hannibal_. Kari sighed in relief as she and Kim moved forward to dance near the front of the stage. She pretended that she couldn't hear as Matt, Tai, and the sophomore introduced her and Kim to the audience.

Once Yolei began to sing, there was a commotion back stage, the purposeful knocking over of a back set. It hit the stage directly in the desired spot, just inches behind where Yolei was standing. The dancers stopped as Carlotta stormed offstage.

Sora told Matt and Tai about the phantom and before she knew it, Sora was turning towards her and she tucked her arm behind her skirt, hoping to hide the bruises from her friends. As soon as Sora presented her to Matt and Tai, however, it took Tai less than a minute to spot the contusion on her arm. She saw his eyes flare as he acknowledged it. His voice didn't show his anger as he and Sora discussed replacing Carlotta with Christine, though Kari could sense it behind his words.

After that, their dress rehearsal seemed to go smoothly. Backstage, however, things were not smooth at all. During her feature solo, "Think of Me," she could see Tai, out of the corner of her eye, storming around, most likely trying to find out what had happened to Kari's arm. She watched him threaten Yolei, who she guessed couldn't tell him anything.

T.K. almost missed his cue in "The Angel of Music" scene where only his voice is supposed to be heard. She looked backstage where T.K. was supposed to be waiting for Meg to leave and he would take his place behind the mirror. He wasn't waiting in the wings though, he was struggling to breathe as Tai had him lifted by the collar, threatening him.

Kari wanted to rush to him right there, but Kim was singing to her now; if she ran offstage she would miss her lines. Then she saw Matt's blond head rush to his brother's aide and she breathed a sigh of relief.

She could only wonder if Tai had gotten the story from T.K., as she had no opportunity to ask him. Time seemed to fly through the next big scenes. Before she knew it, she was offstage getting dressed as her silent role as the pageboy for the next part. She was pulling her hair back into a low ponytail when she heard the screams.

She ran out of the dressing room to find the cast in an uproar. When she pushed her way onto the stage the only thing she saw blood. Lots of blood. It wasn't until someone was grabbed her shoulders and was pulling her away that she could process and absorb the scene in front of her.

Davis was lying on the floor, blood pouring out his nose onto his shirt, onto the stage, pretty much onto everything around him. Surprisingly, Tai was the one standing over him, rolling up his shirt sleeve to hit him again, and he would have if Matt hadn't been holding him back. Sora was standing back watching it all with wide eyes. Kari figured it had been she who had screamed as it looked as if they had been in the middle of the "Notes" scene.

Thankfully, T.K. moved her out of the way as Davis attempted to return to his feet, which only made Tai leap out of Matt's hold to punch him again. When Matt grabbed his fist this time, Tai surrendered.

"Alright," he called. His voice silenced the cast, though above everything was Mrs. Fujita yelling from the auditorium, desperately trying to get a handle on the situation. She was up from her seat, moving quickly toward the stage when Kari saw Tai lean into Davis' face to utter an inaudible threat.

Kari, T.K., and the rest of the cast members watched from the wings waiting to see how the scene would play out. Mrs. Fujita had reached the stage now and was ordering one of the freshman students to accompany Davis to the nurse's office. After he had hobbled offstage, she turned her scolding to Tai.

"If tomorrow wasn't opening night, I'd have your butt suspended from school this instant."

"We're not students anymore, Mrs. Fujita," Matt gently reminded her.

"You better watch it, Ishida, I'm sure you had something to do with this."

Matt tried to protest, but she cut him off with more ranting.

It was almost a half an hour before Davis returned, his clothes still bloodstained, and they could continue where they had left off. Tensions were high for the rest of the day. Kari wasn't even sure how they made it through. She lost count of the number of lines she screwed up, cues she missed, and notes she didn't hit.

She wasn't the only one, though. When Mrs. Fujita gave them a lecture on how tonight's rehearsal didn't matter, she could almost see the frustration in the room. Mrs. Fujita instructed them that if they all spent time resting and focusing on their performance, the show could still be a success. Kari found herself zoning out to the usual motivation speech, dazing absentmindedly at the blood spatter on Davis's shirt.

Afterwards, T.K. met up with her to walk home with her like they usually did. For the first few blocks they were silent, both lost in contemplation.

"T.K., I'm scared," Kari finally said, staring down at the sidewalk.

T.K. stopped walking. "Kari, there's nothing for you to be afraid of. Gatomon and Patamon and the others are keeping tabs on Davis so he won't be able to do anything to you again. I won't let him do anything to you again."

Kari shook her head. "That's not why I'm scared. I'm scared because of what's happening to him. I miss the old goofy Davis. It's because of us that he's like this now. It's all my fault."

"Kari, this is not your fault." He put his arms around her, holding her against his chest. "This has nothing to do with you."

She protested but he kissed her to quiet her worries. "Kari," he continued. "I'm sorry that this happened too, but you can't blame yourself."

"What are we going to do? I want the old Davis back."

"Me too. Maybe we can try talking to him after the performance. Knock some sense back into him."

She looked up into his baby blue eyes. "Promise me you won't hurt him."

T.K. clenched his jaw. "He deserves it after what he did to you," but a concerned look from her had him adding, "I promise I won't hurt him."

"Thank you," she said as they continued their walk. "Do you think he'll be okay for tomorrow night?"

"I hope so," T.K. replied. He reached down to clasp her hand in his. "We've worked so hard for this play; I know tomorrow's going to be great." He gave her a reassuring smile, but Kari could hear the uncertainty in his voice. She smiled back, as shaky and unfeeling as he was. He squeezed her hand as they reached their parting point and he gave her a goodnight kiss.

The rest of Kari's evening was just as worrisome. Her fears of both Davis's transformation and the failure of the show troubled her throughout the night. When she awoke the next morning for school, she felt like she had barely gotten any rest though she had slept soundly.

Once she got to school, however, her concern over Davis was quickly replaced with nervousness. People seemed to go out of their way in her classes and in the hallways to pat her on the shoulder and wish her good luck. She felt so sick with nerves by the end of the day that she rushed home after school without even bothering to wait for T.K.

After a pep talk from her mother and some good food in her belly, she was slightly calmer when she arrived at the school to begin preparing. Thankful that she had the dressing room to herself, she claimed a vanity counter and plugged in her curling iron.

She hummed a few lines from "Think of Me" as she styled her hair, finding that the music helped to relax her. Just a few verses in, however, she was interrupted by the door bursting open to reveal Kim and some of the girls from the chorus.

"Can I borrow some of your cover up?" Kim asked one of the girls. "I used all of mine on Davis's nose."

"Oh, of course, Kim," the other girl said. "I'm so glad Davis is here. I thought he was going to have to go to the hospital. I can't believe he's going to perform."

"I still can't believe Tai punched him," Kim said, lowering her voice in Kari's presence, though she could still clearly hear the conversation.

"Tai's such a jerk," another girl said, making Kari couch loudly to let them know she could hear them, and that it was her brother they were speaking of.

Kari didn't look at their faces to see their reactions as she finished her makeup. As soon as she was done she was more than eager to get out of the now crowded room. She had barely stepped through the doorway when she walked right into the person she had been hoping to find.

"Hi," T.K. said looking down at her with his ocean blue eyes and wide smile.

"Hi," she said, grabbing his hand so he would follow her to the stage. The thick curtains were closed, but they could still hear the murmur of people on the other side beginning to enter the auditorium and find their seats. They waved to Joe who was leading the crew members in the arrangement of the props for the first Act.

"Are you nervous?" she asked him.

"Yep. Are you?"

"Uh huh." She kissed his mouth sweetly, finding him to be a wonderfully satisfying distraction.

Mrs. Fujita hurried onto the stage interrupting them. "You two should be getting ready. It's almost showtime."

"Okay, Mrs. Fujita," said T.K. obediently, though he hadn't taken his eyes off Kari.

"Break a leg," he whispered, pulling her in for another kiss.

"You too," she said, responding to both his words and embrace.

Reluctantly, they pulled apart and Kari returned backstage to await her entrance. As she reached the wings, the cast of Scene 1 took their places onstage and she watched as the thick curtains pulled apart and light flooded the stage.


	18. The First Act

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 18 – The First Act**

Kari took a deep breath before taking her place beside Kim for their first scene. When the curtains opened this time, she was prepared for the multitude of faces staring back at her. Though she was in the back, half hidden by other cast members, she knew some in the audience would be searching for her face, looking to spot Christine Daaé.

Just concentrate on the dancing, she told herself, right, left, chassé, rond de jambe. She found that if she pretended this was just one of their rehearsals and that the seats were really empty as usual, the she didn't feel so nervous.

Matt and Tai entered. Just keep dancing, she repeated in her head. The set hit the floor. Everything was going perfectly without a hitch. By the time "Think of Me" came, Kari found that her desire to sing outmatched her nervousness.

"Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye," she sang. "Remember me, once in a while. Please promise me you'll try."

This close to the front of the stage, she could peer out into the audience where she easily spotted her mother sitting beside her father waving back at her from behind a large video camera. A few rows in front of them were Cody and Ken who did not look happy to be sitting next to Jun, Davis's psychotic older sister, who was struggling to keep her eyes open. Kari suspected that she was only interested in scenes with Matt in them.

Sure enough, when Matt and Tai commented on Christine's performance, Kari saw Jun's head pop up from her seat, wide awake at the sound of his voice.

"When you find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free, if you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me."

This was the tricky part as the orchestra continued to play while Kari had to rush offstage behind the curtain to climb into the ball gown Yolei stood holding out to her. When the curtains opened again, the audience clapped loudly at the scene's flawless transition.

"We never said our love was evergreen or as unchanging as the sea, but if you can still remember, stop and think of me," she continued. "Think of all the things we've shared and seen, don't think about the things which might have been." As she scanned the audience she easily recognized Mrs. Takaishi who was sitting rather awkwardly beside Mr. Ishida, T.K's father. Kari guessed she would never understand how some girls were nervous around their boyfriends' parents. She had known T.K.'s mother and father since their first trip to the digital world, almost ten years ago. To her, T.K.'s family felt like an extension of her own. Heck, their brothers' high school years when Matt was always at their apartment with Tai, the Kamiya's had practically adopted Matt as another son. T.K. might disagree, but she felt she had almost as much of a right to call him her brother as he did.

"Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned. Imagine me, trying so hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of the things we'll never do. There will never be a day when I won't think of you."

"Can it be?" sang Davis from across the stage in this box seat. "Can it be Christine? Bravo!"

Kari knew she couldn't turn to look at him, but out of the corner of his eye she could see the purple mass of his swollen nose.

"What a change! You're really not a bit the gawkish girl that once you were. She may not remember me, but I remember her," he continued.

Kari was thankful that the facial infliction had not damaged his breathing too badly to affect his voice. He was slightly nasally, but she hoped she only noticed because she knew his voice so well after hearing him sing everyday for the past few months.

"We never said our love was evergreen or as unchanging of the sea, but please promise me that sometimes you will think of me." The audience erupted in applause as Kari sang the final note. Kari could see her parents on their feet for a standing ovation as the upstage curtain closed. The chorus girls ran on pushing her into the next scene.

Kari was much more relaxed now that, for her at least, the most nerve wracking segment was over. Of course, there were many other songs and scenes that she was anxious for, but most of them involved T.K., and she was always better performing with him than without.

She was actually a little surprised that everything was going so well, it was definitely not something she had been expecting.

Of course, as soon as she realized that, it was time for the "All I Ask of You" scene. She felt a nervous flutter as Davis took her hand, the swelling of his nose filling her eyes. The love and affection Christine felt for Raoul was much harder to act this time with the pain in her arm constantly reminding her of how he had changed. When he kissed her, it was a frozen unfeeling kiss, probably from both sides.

The audience, however, were successfully convinced and gave them another standing ovation before they exited, leaving T.K. alone onstage. When they reached the wings, Kari turned back to watch T.K., but Davis was still holding her hand pulling her away.

Luckily, the orchestra picked up loudly so Kari's struggle against him was inaudible to the audience when she shouted fainly, "Let go, Davis!"

T.K. did hear, though, and rushed to her aide as soon as he exited the stage. But Davis was already fleeing, heading out the door.

"Where do you think he's going?" T.K. asked as the door to the hallway heading into the school banged shut behind him.

"I don't know," Kari said, "but I don't like it."

"Me either," T.K. agreed. "It's intermission now. If he isn't back in ten minutes I'll go look for him."

Kari nodded her approval before heading back to her own dressing room. She knew she would need the entire break to prepare for Act Two, which began with the "Masquerade" scene.

It didn't take ten minutes, however, to wonder where Davis had been going. Kari was sitting once again in the jam packed dressing room touching up the curls in her hair when one of the chorus girls yelled out, "Someone's phone is beeping!"

It was like a magnet the way that one simple announcement pulled every teenage head toward the girl holding up the black tote bag.

"That's mine!" Kari said, standing up to claim it. "But I don't have my phone..."

Once Kari had correctly identified the bag as her own, the rest of the girls seemed to lose interest at once and returned to their business. Kari, however, was furiously digging through all of the useless items she had thought to bring to find the source of the noise.

She quickly realized that it wasn't a phone beeping. It was her digi-vice.

Uh oh, she thought, this can't be good, the digital world always has such bad timing.

She had barely taken a step out the door when she met Yolei and Sora, both with their digi-vices in hand.

"Kari, you too?" Sora asked, holding up her blinking and beeping digi-vice.

"What are we going to do?" Yolei asked. "We only have nine minutes left before we have to be back onstage!"

"I'm going to go check it out," Kari said determinedly. "I think…I think Davis might have something to do with this."

"Davis?" Sora asked. "But he's on in nine minutes!" But Yolei met her eye understandingly.

"I'm coming with you," Yolei said. "Sora, stay here and cover for us. We'll be back soon!" She grabbed Kari's gloved hand and they took off toward the same exit Davis had passed through just six minutes earlier.

Opening the door, however, had them nearly crashing into T.K., Tai, and Matt. Although Tai protested their accompaniment, there was no changing Kari's mind. To save the limited time they had, they agreed to all go and immediately set off down the deserted hallway to the computer room.

They must have made a strange sight rushing through the high school, Kari thought. The three boys were all wearing old-fashioned penguin tuxedos and the two girls were dressed in vibrant massive ball gowns complete with elbow length satin gloves. Instinctively, she ridiculously fretted over the fact that she had not grabbed her costume's mask but then recollected what she was doing and where she was heading.

Kari was not a bit surprised to find the computer lab unlocked, the door left wide open, as well as the first machine already booted up and running.

"I'll bet anything Davis was here first," T.K. said as they came across the scene.

"He was here a few minutes ago," Patamon said, jumping out from under one of the desks with Gatomon, surprising them all.

"He and Veemon went through to the digiworld," Gatomon informed them.

"We were just deciding whether to wait for him to come back or go find you," said Patamon.

"That means we should go now," Matt said, taking a seat in front of the monitor.

"We've only got seven minutes left," Yolei pointed out, glancing nervously at the clock on the wall above the door..

"Look," Tai said, "I don't think we should all go, and it makes sense if it's just me and Matt."

"No, it doesn't," T.K. argued.

"Ok," Tai said, "me, Matt, and T.K."

"Wait!" Kari interrupted, "I want to go too."

"Six minutes!"

"Well, you can't!" Tai said. "It might not be safe for you!"

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!" Matt shouted above them all, forcing them all into silence. "Tai, it does not make sense for me and you to go. We open the Act. I think just T.K. and Kari should go. They're the ones closest to Davis. Besides, T.K. doesn't come in 'til the end of the scene and Kari can't enter without Davis."

Yolei nodded along with him. "It does makes sense. If we go back we can stall and buy you guys some more time."

Tai looked furious but even he could see the logic in Matt's plan. The show couldn't go on without its stars. "Fine," he said, "but you guys better go now!"

"Digi-port open!" T.K. called, presenting his digi-vice to the computer monitor. There was a flash of light so bright that the whole computer lab was illuminated for a second. Kari moved to stand beside T.K., Patamon, and Gatomon and gave in to the mysterious forces that pulled her through the portal and into the vortex that would take them to the digital world where she hadn't a clue what was waiting for them this time.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Think of Me"

Andrew Lloyd Webber

The Phantom of the Opera


	19. The Intermission

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 19 – The Intermission**

Kari stumbled as she hit the ground in the digital world. She usually never had a problem with the landings, although she had never before attempted it while wearing high heeled shoes and an evening gown.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking up at the tall trees circling them that could have belonged to countless areas of the digiworld.

"I don't know," T.K. said, "but this is the same sector Davis entered so he must be around here somewhere."

The sun was sinking lower on the horizon, though the only way they could tell was from the lengthening shadows and continuous darkening of the small patch of sky visible above the treetops.

"I think I know where we are!" Patamon said, "This way! Follow me!"

He took off flapping through the trees, giving the others no choice but to follow him. They had barely walked fifty feet when they entered a clearing at the base of a very familiar mountain.

"Infinity Mountain!" Gatomon said.

"How can you be sure?" Kari asked, hesitantly. She had never been this close to Infinity Mountain, though T.K. and Patamon had been on several occasions.

"I'm sure," T.K. said. He and Patamon exchanged knowing glances and Kari instantly got the feeling that she was missing something. "We have to go up," he told them.

"What! T.K., Davis can't be up there. It would take hours to climb! We only have a few minutes before we have to go back!"

Although Gatomon agreed with her, T.K. remained resilient to their persuading.

"Kari," he said, "look around. Davis isn't here, which means he's most likely up there." He pointed up towards the peak of the mountain. "You should stay here. Patamon and I will go up and check it out."

"No," Kari said. It didn't matter if she believed Davis was there or not, she was not going to be separated from T.K. at this point. They were in this together, after all. She met Gatomon's eyes and nodded, already holding out her digivice. "Digi-Armor Energize!"

In flashes of pink and yellow light, the costumed T.K. and Kari were standing beside the horse-like Pegasusmon and Nefertimon. It didn't take Kari long to discover that riding a flying digimon sidesaddle style is much more difficult than it seems. When Nefertimon took off from the ground Kari was so focused on trying to hang on without the grip of her thighs that she was almost startled into letting go when Nefertimon spoke to her.

"Keep your head low, Kari," she said, "so the wind doesn't mess up your hair."

Kari laughed heartily, letting the wind whip the curls out of her chestnut brown hair. What did it really matter anymore? They were definitely past the six minutes they had left of intermission. People would probably start to go home soon, Kari thought. There were no understudies capable of filling all three of their roles.

Despite Pegasusmon and Nefertimon being extraordinary flyers, the climb to the summit took quite a while, the sky growing darker and the air growing colder the entire time. Halfway up had Kari wishing Christine's wardrobe involved long-sleeved ball gowns, shivering despite the many layers of thin fabric of her sleeveless dress.

"Kari!" T.K. shouted as Pegasusmon sidled alongside Nefertimon. "Let's land! It's getting too dark to see anything!"

Kari nodded as Nefertimon followed Pegasusmon to a wide path that wound up the mountainside.

"What do we do now?" Kari asked as she slid off the digimon's broad white back so she could de-digivolve.

"We go up," T.K. said, so, they began walking along the path that led in winding circles up the mountain. The road was not an easy climb. It was a rocky, sometimes steep and narrow trail, between the rigid mountainside to their right and thousand and some foot drop to their left.

After Kari's third tumble in her dangerous high heels, she leaned against the side of the mountain to catch her breath. T.K., Patamon, and Gatomon stopped to wait for her as she slipped her shoes off to rub the sores in her aching feet.

"How much higher do you think we have to go?" Kari asked.

T.K. turned around to meet her eyes," Not much longer, I think." He gave her a forced smile, then frowned as he stared at a spot just above her head.

"Huh?" Kari asked, seeing his confusion and turning around to see what he was looking at. The only thing she could see in the dim lighting was dark shadowed rock.

"Look at this," he said, running his hand along the stone. And then Kari saw it beneath his fingertips. It was like a dark crack or fissure line set deep in the rock. It almost looked like a large chunk of the rock had been carved out and then shoved haphazardly back in its place.

One second she was examining the mountainside, and then, the next thing she knew, she was falling, plunging through darkness, their screams echoing in her ears.

She hit the ground with a hard thud, all of the air seemingly knocked out of her lungs. When her head stopped spinning, she sat up in shock beside T.K. and the two digimon. They must not have fallen far, she realized, as the soft light streamed down from the hole where the rock had caved in beneath their feet.

"Where are we?" Patamon asked from somewhere beside her.

"I don't know, Patamon," T.K. answered. He stood up, holding out a hand to help Kari to her feet before brushing the rubble and debris from his suit. "It looks like some sort of tunnel."

Kari turned around. Behind them was a dark round tunnel extending from the small chamber where they had landed.

"I didn't know Infinity Mountain was hollow," Kari said, trying to remember everything Tai, T.K., and the others had told her about their first adventure to the digital world during summer camp.

"Well," said Gatomon, staring up at the hole above them, "since we can't go up, I think we should see where this tunnel goes."

"Right," Kari said, taking a step after the catlike digimon down the tunnel.

"Wait!" T.K. called, Patamon flapping close behind his head. "We don't know what's down here! It could be dangerous. Besides, we should be trying to find Davis, not exploring dark caves."

"Whatever we do," Patamon said, "we should do it quickly. Time's running out for you two. It's already past showtime."

"T.K.," Kari said. "I think we should see what's down here. If there's something dangerous we should stop it before it hurts anyone. Remember WereMonzaemon and the Numemon? There could be digimon in trouble! There might be something that needs our help!"

T.K. sighed, realizing that there would be no convincing her. "Alright," he conceded, suspecting that anything that resided in the mountain would want anything but their help, "but I'm walking in front."

She let him take the lead as they started down the tunnel. As soon as they were out of range from the now faintly lit chamber where they had fallen, the tunnels darkened. Gatomon climbed into Kari's arms and Patmon landed on top of T.K.'s head while T.K. and Kari gripped hands so as not to be separated.

Kari almost knocked T.K. over when he suddenly stopped directly in front of her.

"Huh?" he said.

She peered over his shoulder to try and see why he had stopped. "What is it?" she asked.

"I think…" he said, "I think I see a light ahead."

Kari couldn't see anything in the darkness, but sure enough, they had barely taken five more steps when Kari made out the unmistakable orange glow of a light in the tunnel ahead.

"What do you think it is?" Gatomon asked, much more hesitant about proceeding than she and Kari had been before.

"I'm not sure," he replied, "but we might as well go find out." He pulled gently on Kari's now frozen hand. She clutched his hand a little tighter as they stepped forward.

The source of the light, they found, was a single light bulb nailed into the wall of the cave. There was a thin wire that hung from it, connecting it to another bulb twenty feet away, and then another, like a strand of Christmas lights down the tunnel. Although there were no digimon or people in sight, Kari had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach as they continued on. Thankfully, it was much easier to walk with the light bulbs illuminating the narrow passageway.

Not too long after they had passed the first light bulb, Patamon sat up from among the strands of T.K.'s yellow hair, his ears perked.

"I hear something," he told them, making T.K. roll his eyes up at him.

Gatomon tensed in Kari's arms as she turned her ears in the direction they were heading. "I hear it too," she said.

"Is it Davis?" Kari asked.

"No," said Gatomon.

"It sounds like…a machine…" said Patamon, clearly straining his ears to listen.

T.K. motioned her to keep walking, placing a finger to his lips to signal them all to keep quiet. Kari saw him slide his hand to the inside pocket of his suit coat to pull out his digivice.

The tunnel they were following turned out to be just one of several small tunnels that led inward into the main cavern of the mountain. Kari had been right when she guessed that the mountain was hollow. Though they were halfway up, the cavity in front of them fell all the way back to the ground and stretched all the way up to what must be the peak of the mountain in the clouds.

What was more surprising than this, however, was the giant machine that filled the entire inside of the mountain.

"I wonder what it does," Gatomon asked, looking down the gears shifting and turning, parts grinding against each other. It almost looked and sounded like an enormous engine.

"An engine that big could drive all the way across the digital world," Kari said.

T.K. gritted his teeth as he looked down upon the scene. "I was afraid of this," he said.

"They're black gears," Patamon explained.

"Black gears?" asked Gatomon.

"Like what Devimon used to turn good digimon evil?"Kari asked, fear echoing in her voice.

But T.K. didn't seem to hear them. His attention was now fixed on Patamon. "Fly around and take a look, but be careful not to be seen!"

Patamon nodded but asked, "You don't think he's here, do you? You don't think Devimon's back?"

The only thing T.K. said to that was, "For his sake, I hope not."


	20. The Cave

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 20 – The Cave**

Fear rippled through Kari as she watched Patamon's wings flap out of sight and into the maze of dark machinery in front of them. It wasn't just the thought of an unbelievably evil digimon that frightened her; after all, the original digi-destineds had been able to defeat Devimon. It was true that if Devimon had returned, he would most likely be stronger than before and they were all on their own, unless you counted Davis somewhere, but she was trying to stay confidant.

She and T.K. had defeated their share of evil digimon. But you guys usually had help, a little voice said in the back of her mind. Angewomon had had MegaKabuterimon's help to defeat LadyDevimon and MagnaAngemon had had WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon's help in taking care of Piedmon. Even when they had digivolved to mega to fight Kokomon and help Willis, they had had Maganamon an Rapidmon's help.

Just don't think about that, Kari told herself, and it seemed to be working. Except for when she stole a glance to look at the boy beside her.

What truly scared her was the look on T.K.'s face. Tai had told her the story once of how they had only won against Devimon back then when Angemon had sacrificed himself to destroy him. He came back as a digi-egg, of course, but she couldn't even imagine how traumatizing the experience had to have been for T.K. He had only been eight years old at the time.

She was almost thankful she hadn't been there, as she wouldn't have had a clue how to comfort him back then. She could even imagine how her friends had been able to console him. This time around, she was still unsure how to reassure him now.

Silently, she slipped her hand into his and was somewhat surprised when he pulled her into a tight embrace, making Gatomon leap to the ground before being squashed by his body.

"Kari," he said quietly into her ear, "don't be scared. We'll be alright."

She released him to reach up and stroke his face. "I'm not," she replied, "I'm just worried about you."

He smiled and kissed her fingertips and then her lips. "It'll be okay."

Kari nodded, but before she could say anything else supportive, Patamon flew back to their spot just inside the tunnel.

"What did you see?" T.K. asked him immediately.

"Lots of gears," he relayed after he had caught his breath, "but no sign of Devimon. I heard voices near the bottom but I was afraid to fly too close. I think I heard Davis."

"How do we get down there?" Gatomon asked.

"There's a path down the side," Patamon said, pointing in the direction of a camouflaged staircase carved into the inside of the mountain.

The steps were as tricky as the outside mountain path had been for Kari in high heels, but they managed, even though it took them quite awhile. The closer they came to the bottom, the easier it was for Kari and the others to hear the voices Patamon had described to them.

"That's definitely Davis's voice," Gatomon said, her ears perked downward, where a particularly large set of gears were blocking their view. "Boy, does he sound angry about something."

Davis was speaking very loudly, shouting about something and to someone.

"I really hope that's Veemon he's talking to," said T.K., thinking of his old nemesis.

When they reached the end of the stone staircase, they snuck carefully behind the gears so they wouldn't be seen. On the other side they could hear Davis still shouting. It was difficult for Kari to decipher his words over the grinding of the gears, but there were some words she could catch over the noise, like Veemon and digi-volve.

Kari leaned forward to try and see what was happening through the churning grooves of the gear. As she did, her foot slipped on a piece of the gravel floor, sending her sprawling to the ground.

The four of them tensed simultaneously with the unmistakable pause in conversation from the other side.

Then, all of a sudden, Exveemon jumped around the side of the gear and dragged the four of them from their hiding spot. T.K.'s eyes searched frantically around the hollowed cavern, but besides them and Exveemon, the only other living thing there was Davis.

The first thing Kari noticed about her friend was the change in his appearance. His jacket, which was usually red and blue, was now black with orange and red flames which contrasted with his new black shorts and gloves. The other difference was his goggles; the lenses were shaded, not unlike Ken's glasses from when he was the Digimon Emperor.

Exveemon tossed them against the center of a gear that was half lodged into the ground. Shackles came out of nowhere and fastened around their arms and legs, pinning them tight against the metal.

"Davis, what's going on?" Kari asked.

"Davis, where's Devimon? Is he here? Are you working for him now?" T.K. asked desperately.

Davis replied bitterly, "Will you both just shut up? I don't even know who Devimon is." He moved across the room so he was standing directly in front of Kari. "I knew you'd follow me. I didn't want you to bring him though." He threw T.K. a dirty look from the side of his eyes.

He stroked Kari's face affectionately, similar to the way she had to T.K. earlier. "Kari, I love you."

"Don't do this, Davis," she whispered. "This isn't you. You're not evil. I know you."

There was a quiver in her voice that made T.K. fight against his restraints, the metal cutting into the skin of his arms.

"I want you to watch, Kari," Davis continued. "I'm as powerful as he is. We're stronger." Exveemon folded his arms across his chest behind him.

T.K. yelled an obscenity at Davis. "Let us go, Davis! Don't you dare touch her!"

Davis laughed very differently from his usual cheerful mirth, the ringing of it sending chills up and down Kari's spine. "And just what are you going to do about it, T.P.?"

T.K. fought again against the shackles before his digivice erupted in a shower of light. "Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"

Angemon emerged from the glow, bursting the tiny bars that had been wrapped around the much smaller Patamon just seconds before. He made for Davis, but before he had barely moved, Exveemon jumped onto him hurtling them across the cave.

It was a desperate battle between the two champion-level digimon, and very evenly matched too. Kari tried to reach her own digivice so Gatomon could digivolve and help Angemon, but as soon as Gatomon had digivovled the gears seemed to anticipate this, and quickly had Angewomon fully restrained beside T.K. and Kari.

She struggled hard against the numerous metal bands, but that only seemed to make them tighten and multiply.

"How is he doing this?" T.K. wondered, Exveemon was occupied with Angemon so it had to be Davis who was responsible for their imprisonment. Unless, Devimon was nearby.

"It's the mountain," Angewomon gasped, "the gears are controlling themselves." Before she could say anything more another band burst from the gear and wrapped itself across her mouth.

Kari was shaking now, but in a quick second, Angemon had Exveemon pinned against the ground.

"Exveemon, stop this," he said in his deep angelic voice. "I don't want to have to hurt you!"

"Never," was his reply. "Now you'll see just how strong we are."

Davis held up his digivice and there was another burst of light. It took Kari a second to realize that it really wasn't light coming from Davis's digivice but pure black darkness.

When it had dispersed, the thing that stood before Angemon was huge and monstrous, its body composed of bones and evil. There was little resemblance to Exveemon, but quite a lot to SkullGreymon.

"Meet SkullVeemon!" Davis shouted, as the new digimon swiped a bony paw at Angemon, sending him crashing to the floor.

Angemon fought valiantly, but it was obvious to the digi-destineds that he didn't stand a chance against the evil ultimate. Kari winced every time he took a blow. She suspected that T.K. was suffering extremely by watching the losing battle, probably reflecting on the last time Angemon had lost a fight.

"T.K., look at me!" she called to him. She could tell it was a great effort by him to turn his head away from the ugly scene to meet her eyes. Before she could register the fear and despair in his eyes, she said, "It's going to be okay. We're going to be alright." She repeated the same words he had spoken to her earlier, wishing she was close enough to kiss him. She reached out her arm though it made the shackles cut deep into her skin. It wasn't for nothing though; if she leaned and stretched her arm just so, their fingers brushed.

She smiled weakly at him as their fingers grasped for each other. Then he smiled back and something amazing happened.

Angemon had just struck SkullVeemon with his staf, though the impact didn't seem to faze him. Then Angemon paused, enclosed in the bright yellow light spouting from T.K.'s pulsating digivice.

"Angemon digivolve to…MagnaAngemon!"

Kari cheered as SkullVeemon staggered backwards, seemingly blinded by the light. The first thing MagnaAngemon did was not to attack, but to turn to face Angewomon. In one quick flash of his purple sword, Excalibur, Angewomon was free from her restraints and practically bursting with energy.

"Let's take care of this," she said, pulling an arrow from the quiver on her back. "Celestial Arrow!"

The arrow flew, surprisingly, not toward SkullVeemon but toward Davis.

"No!" Kari screamed as the arrow struck Davis in the back, his eyes widening upon impact. He was knocked forward, almost falling on Kari when he was lifted from the ground mysteriously, something strange happening to him.

Davis screamed in agony as a black gear emerged slowly from his back before dissolving into a thousand digital data bites.

MagnaAngemon struck SkullVeemon with his sword, knocking him to the ground as he de-digivolved back to the rookie, Veemon.

"What a head rush," the impish blue digimon said, holding his rocking head in his hands.

"Veemon," Davis moaned from the ground.

Kari tried to reach him, but she was still pinned to the gear. MagaAngemon turned to them, flashed his glowing purple blade once more, and the gear behind them dissolved into space as the one inside Davis had.

She tried once again to reach Davis, but was stopped when MagnaAngemon scooped T.K. and Kari into his arms, followed by Angewomon who was already carrying Davis and Veemon.

"We've got to get them out of here before we can destroy the gears," MagaAngemon said, leading the way back up to the tunnel and out the way they had fallen. The two angel digimon were strong flyers, the trip taking less than a quarter of the time it had taken them to reach the main cavern.

MagnaAngemon and Angewomon took them to Primary Village before taking off again for the inside of the mountain to destroy the evil Devimon must have left waiting there.

Kari's head was still spinning trying to digest everything that had happened when Davis moaned again. Both Veemon and Primary Village's Elecmon were kneeling over him as he slowly regained consciousness.

His eyes opened just as T.K. and Kari reached him. She threw herself on the ground beside him, the many layers of her gown cushioning the fall.

"Davis! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" In her mind she could still see Angewomon's arrow sinking into him.

"I think so," he stammered as Elecmon helped him reach a sitting position. "Kari," he said, looking into her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…I couldn't stop…"

She threw her arms around him, "It's okay. I forgive you."

"The black gears must have been controlling him since the camping trip," T.K. said from beside them.

"That explains so much," she said, before Davis managed wriggle out of her squeezing grip. Next, Kari threw her arms around T.K., kissing him passionately. For a moment back there, she had truly thought they were goners.

Thankful that everything had been resolved, she was far too preoccupied to even think about the performance they had abandoned when MagnaAngemon and Angewomon returned.

When Angewomon had de-digivolved back to Gatomon the first thing she said to Kari was, "So much for keeping your hair out of the wind."

Kari reached up to pat her frazzled and windblown hair. Then it hit her. "The show!" All three of them realized at once that they were very, very late for their cues. "We've got to get back!"

"Here, this way," Elecmon said, leading them to a small television screen that would open up a portal back into the high school's computer lab.

Once they had passed through, Kari was surprised to see Tai, Matt, and Yolei still standing in front of them.

"You're back!" Yolei squealed as she ran forward to hug Kari and the others.

"What happened?" Tai asked immediately after he had pushed the younger girl aside.

"Wait," T.K. interjected, "what are all of you still doing here? Is the show over?"

"Did everyone go home?" Kari asked, downheartedly.

"No, it hasn't started yet," said Matt.

"What? That's not possible," said Kari, "we've been gone for over an hour."

"Well," said Yolei hesitantly, "we tried to stall, but Mrs. Fujita wasn't taking it very well…"

"So Tai pulled the fire alarm," said Matt, rolling his eyes. "They had to evacuate and call the fire department. They're just now letting everyone reenter the auditorium."

"Can't you get in big trouble for that?" Kari asked, staring disbelievingly at her sometimes idiot older brother.

"Not if you start a fire first," said Tai. Before they could comment on this crime he quickly added that, "It wasn't anything big! I just 'tripped' over a set and 'accidentally' knocked over a lit candle."

"Mrs. Fujita was about ready to kill him," Matt said.

"I'll have to hide after the curtain call or she probably will," Tai laughed.

"Well, what are we standing around here for," said Yolei, clapping her hands together. "We have a show to put on!"


	21. The Finale

Phantom of the Digiworld

**Chapter 21 – The Finale**

Kari had to remind herself again to breathe in and out as she stared excitedly one last time at the inside of the thick red velvet curtain. As soon as it parted she could hear the audience's cheers of applause. She stepped once more onto the stage, a huge smile radiating on her face. This was the curtain call. The end of the show.

It had been a terrific ending, Kari thought to herself as she took her bows. Somehow, they had managed to pull themselves together for the second act. What was even more surprising was the fact that it didn't seem as if Tai's stunt had not driven away a single member of the audience, although, it had put him in grave danger of Mrs. Fujita's wrath.

The spectators rose to their feet when Davis stepped out of the wing to join her. Although he was extremely pale and more than a little wobbly, Davis had been spectacular in his final scenes. Kari let the enormous bouquet of flowers she had been clutching hit the floor as she embraced him.

They receded backstage as T.K. entered. Joining the other cast members lined across the rear of the stage, Kari and Davis added their praise to the thunder of applause T.K. had earned. After he had bowed several times, he turned to pull Davis and Kari back to the front where they joined hands for one final bow before the curtains closed at last.

Backstage, the cast was cheering and celebrating a successful performance. Luckily, their exclamations were muffled by the audience's continued applause from the other side of the heavy curtain.

Before they reached the exuberant cast members, Kari felt Davis's hand slip out of her own. She turned to look at him, but with his head tilted downward Kari could see nothing but the lingering paleness of his complexion.

"Davis, are you okay?" she asked worriedly, ignoring T.K.'s arms sliding around her waist from behind.

"I'm fine now, Kari," he said quietly, "thanks to you guys."

"You don't have to thank us Davis," T.K. interrupted, trying his best to avoid an awkward apology.

"Yes I do!" Davis protested. He sniffled, "I'm so sorry. This was all my fault. Look at all the trouble I've caused. I'm so sorry, Kari." He whispered the last sentence, looking down at the green-tinged bruise on Kari's forearm.

Kari reached for his hand and squeezed it. "It's okay Davis. We forgive you."

"It wasn't your fault," T.K. added, "Devimon left those gears in the mountain on purpose. I've seen the way he used to use them, turning good digimon into evil. The gear was controlling you, making you do things you would never do."

Davis nodded, agreeing, though Kari could see that he still hadn't forgiven himself. Before she could say anything else to him, Kim and several of the other chorus girls pulled him away, all gushing over how great he was.

Kari watched him fade into the crowd, a glimpse of his normal self returning to his eyes as Kim stroked his arm and his ego.

"He'll be back to himself in no time," T.K. whispered into her ear, pulling her against him.

"That's what we thought before, remember?" she reminded him, leaning against him. As excited as she had been for tonight's performance, it was a huge relief to her knowing that it was all over. It was like an enormous weight had been lifted from her chest.

"It's different this time," T.K. continued, "now that MagnaAngemon and Angewomon destroyed all of the black gears for good this time."

"I know, T.K.," she said. "But I'm still worried about him. Do you think he'll be different now?"

"I don't know, Kari. I think it'll just take time. Remember how long it took Ken to heal after he stopped being the Digimon Emperor?"

"That's not a good comparison!" Kari said, "I don't think Ken will ever be the same. You know as well as I do that he still feels guilty about the terrible things he did."

"It's a good thing Davis wasn't half as bad as Ken was then," Tai interrupted, crossing the stage to join them along with Matt and Sora. "What's taking you guys so long? We need to get this party started!"

Matt and Sora rolled their eyes. "We're going to have a cast party tonight at my place. Are you guys in?" Matt asked.

"Yeah," replied Kari and T.K. excitedly.

"Then let's get a move on!" Tai complained, pulling their arms toward the exit door.

"Tai," Kari said, swatting at his arm. "I have to change first." When he still hadn't let her go she asked, "Tai! What's with you? Let me go change." She looked back helplessly to where Matt and Sora were laughing behind them.

"He's just in a hurry to get as far away from Mrs. Fujita as possible," Sora explained.

"With good reason!" Tai said, uselessly pulling on T.K. and Kari's sleeves. "She wants to kill me!"

"She's not going to kill you, Tai," said T.K. reassuringly.

"Yeah," Kari agreed, finally pulling free of older brother's death grip. "Besides, it's illegal. She'd go to jail."

Before Tai could debate how deep Mrs. Fujita's hatred of him ran, they heard a very disgruntled voice call out from among the throng of celebrators, "Taichi Kamiya!"

Tai's face turned white before he sheepishly turned to face his friends, "I guess I'll see you guys at Matt's then?"

Mrs. Fujita was pushing her way through the crowd to get to Tai. Tai, however, was already slipping through the curtain and disappearing out into the theater where masses of people were still lined to get through the exit doors. T.K., Kari, Matt and Sora could barely manage to yell their goodbye to him through their laughter.

"I guess we better go too," Matt said, taking Sora's hand.

"We'll see you guys later!" Sora called as they too headed toward the exit.

After Kari had changed into her street clothes she met T.K. at the entrance door.

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

She nodded, pulling the strap of her tote bag over one shoulder so she could wrap her other arm around his waist. They walked peacefully for a while in silence. Although it was dark out, it felt much like their after school walks together.

Kari sighed, breathing in the warm spring night air and enjoying the freedom she knew was coming to her. Already she was thinking about the next week of school and what she would do with her afternoons now that she no longer had rehearsals every day.

"What is it?" T.K. asked, made slightly nervous by her heavy sigh.

"I was just wondering what comes next, now that The Phantom is over and done with."

He pulled her a little bit closer to him and leaned his head down to brush a kiss across her forehead. "I can think of a few things."

He smiled mischievously and handsomely as she looked up at him. She smiled back, not having to ask what he was insinuating. Sighing blissfully again, she leaned her head onto his chest as they kept walking. Even though it felt like the end of something big and important in her life, in comparison to the love she felt in her heart for T.K., she knew this was just the beginning.

The End


End file.
